EIG Alert: ‘Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy AI’ and the Immigration Impact

Promoting Innovation and Competition: The Executive Order ensures that the United States continues to lead the way in innovation and competition through the following actions:

• Catalyze AI research across the United States through a pilot of the National AI Research Resource—a tool that will provide AI researchers and students access to key AI resources and data—and expanded grants for AI research in vital areas like healthcare and climate change.

• Promote a fair, open, and competitive AI ecosystem by providing small developers and entrepreneurs access to technical assistance and resources, helping small businesses commercialize AI breakthroughs, and encouraging the Federal Trade Commission to exercise its authorities.

• Use existing authorities to expand the ability of highly skilled immigrants and nonimmigrants with expertise in critical areas to study, stay, and work in the United States by modernizing and streamlining visa criteria, interviews, and reviews.

Supporting Workers: To mitigate the risks that AI presents and support workers’ ability to bargain collectively, and invest in workforce training and development that is accessible to all, the President directs the following actions:

• Develop principles and best practices to mitigate the harms and maximize the benefits of AI for workers by addressing job displacement; labor standards; workplace equity, health, and safety; and data collection.

• Produce a report on AI’s potential labor-market impacts, and study and identify options for strengthening federal support for workers facing labor disruptions, including from AI.

New Standards for AI Safety and Security: With this EO, President Biden addresses the potential risks of AI systems:

• Require that developers of the most powerful AI systems share their safety test results and other critical information with the U.S. government. 

• Develop standards, tools, and tests to help ensure that AI systems are safe, secure, and trustworthy.

• Protect against the risks of using AI to engineer dangerous biological materials by developing strong new standards for biological synthesis screening.

• Protect Americans from AI-enabled fraud and deception by establishing standards and best practices for detecting AI-generated content and authenticating official content.

• Establish an advanced cybersecurity program to develop AI tools to find and fix vulnerabilities in critical software.

• Order the development of a National Security Memorandum that directs further actions on AI and security, to be developed by the National Security Council and White House Chief of Staff.

Protecting Americans’ Privacy: The President calls on Congress to pass bipartisan data privacy legislation to protect all Americans, especially kids, and directs the following actions:

• Protect Americans’ privacy by prioritizing federal support for accelerating the development and use of privacy-preserving techniques.

• Strengthen privacy-preserving research and technologies, such as cryptographic tools that preserve individuals’ privacy, by funding a Research Coordination Network to advance rapid breakthroughs and development. The National Science Foundation will also work with this network to promote the adoption of leading-edge privacy-preserving technologies by federal agencies.

• Evaluate how agencies collect and use commercially available information and strengthen privacy guidance for federal agencies to account for AI risks.

• Develop guidelines for federal agencies to evaluate the effectiveness of privacy-preserving techniques, including those used in AI systems.

Advancing Equity and Civil Rights: To ensure that AI advances equity and civil rights, the President directs the following additional actions:

• Provide clear guidance to landlords, Federal benefits programs, and Federal contractors to keep AI algorithms from being used to exacerbate discrimination.

• Address algorithmic discrimination through training, technical assistance, and coordination between the DOJ and Federal civil rights offices on best practices for investigating and prosecuting civil rights violations related to AI.

• Ensure fairness throughout the criminal justice system.

Standing Up for Consumers, Patients, and Students: To protect consumers while ensuring that AI can make Americans better off, the President directs the following actions:

• Advance the responsible use of AI in healthcare and the development of affordable and life-saving drugs.

• Shape AI’s potential to transform education by creating resources to support educators deploying AI-enabled educational tools, such as personalized tutoring in schools.

Advancing American Leadership Abroad: The Biden-Harris Administration will continue working with other nations to support safe, secure, and trustworthy deployment and use of AI worldwide. To that end, the President directs the following actions:

• Expand bilateral, multilateral, and multistakeholder engagements to collaborate on AI. The State Department, in collaboration, with the Commerce Department will lead an effort to establish robust international frameworks for harnessing AI’s benefits and managing its risks and ensuring safety.

• Accelerate development and implementation of vital AI standards with international partners and in standards organizations, ensuring that the technology is safe, secure, trustworthy, and interoperable.

• Promote the safe, responsible, and rights-affirming development and deployment of AI abroad to solve global challenges.

Ensuring Responsible and Effective Government Use of AI: To ensure the responsible government deployment of AI and modernize federal AI infrastructure, the President directs the following actions:

• Issue guidance for agencies’ use of AI, including clear standards to protect rights and safety, improve AI procurement, and strengthen AI deployment.

• Help agencies acquire specified AI products and services faster, more cheaply, and more effectively through more rapid and efficient contracting.

• Accelerate the rapid hiring of AI professionals as part of a government-wide AI talent surge led by the Office of Personnel Management, U.S. Digital Service, U.S. Digital Corps, and Presidential Innovation Fellowship. Agencies will provide AI training for employees at all levels in relevant fields.