Beware of Today’s Executive Order on AI Vanishing Without Legislation

By Paul Steidler: This afternoon, President Donald Trump is expected to sit down with tech executives and discuss an executive order governing a voluntary framework for the testing of AI frontier models. Many provisions are classified.

The country’s biggest AI developers will be on hand, publicly pledging and putting their reputations on the line that they will act responsibly, in line with the executive order.

All this is likely to be good and positive news. To permanently lock in those gains, the administration should champion bipartisan legislation to govern frontier models. Otherwise, the voluntary framework will eventually be skirted by others, new executive orders will revoke this measure and potentially impose unreasonable restrictions, and AI developers will operate in a regulatory environment of uncertainty.

A key component of frontier model regulation is strengthening funding for the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI), which is part of the Commerce Department. This would enable CAISI to conduct advance testing of large AI models and related evaluations. Legislation should also curtail the chances that models are used in widespread hacking attempts.

In July, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios testified to the U.S. House of Representatives Science Committee that he agreed with committee chairman that CAISI’s annual budget should be increased from $20 million to $100 million annually.

Congressman Obernolte (R-CA) and Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA) have introduced a discussion draft pertaining to AI model testing and other AI provisions. Amazon and Google have also outlined separate approaches for responsible AI regulation.

It is not only prudent for the administration to pursue legislation; it is in its political best interest to do so. Like it or not, the administration owns AI safety. Any debacle over the next two and a half years will squarely be pinned on the administration, particularly if new common-sense legislation is not enacted and if the administration does not vigorously advocate for legislation.