What you need to know:

• US President Joe Biden has issued an Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.
• Using existing legislative tools such as the Defense Production Act, the new order will require digital giants to share their AI safety test results and other critical information with the US government.
• The National Institute of Standards and Technology will set standards governing the release of AI.
• Those standards will be applied to critical infrastructure sectors by the Department of Homeland Security.
• The US Government will also watermark any content it creates using AI.
• The hands-on, heavy touch approach contrasts with the laissez-faire regulatory approach to the rise of digital, which spawned the global digital tech sector, and more recently a series of massive antitrust legal cases aimed at bringing alleged monopolies to heel.

Digital giants will be forced to share their AI safety test results and other critical information with the US government, and navigate much more robust regulation to ensure their AI is safe secure, and trustworthy, while government agencies will be required to watermark AI-generated content after a sweeping presidential executive order was issued overnight.

The administration has moved to rein-in the unfettered development of artificial intelligence with US President Joe Biden issuing an executive order stating his administration "places the highest urgency on governing the development and use of AI safely and responsibly, and is therefore advancing a coordinated, Federal Government-wide approach to doing so."

While noting that AI can be applied to solve urgent challenges, improve productivity, and make the world more prosperous and secure, the order acknowledges the potential for harm and the need to build guardrails.

"At the same time, irresponsible use could exacerbate societal harms such as fraud, discrimination, bias, and disinformation; displace and disempower workers; stifle competition; and pose risks to national security. Harnessing AI for good and realizing its myriad benefits requires mitigating its substantial risks. This endeavor demands a society-wide effort that includes government, the private sector, academia, and civil society."

The order outlines eight principles:

• Artificial Intelligence must be safe and secure.
• Promoting responsible innovation, competition, and collaboration will allow the United States to lead in AI and unlock the technology’s potential to solve some of society’s most difficult challenges.
• The responsible development and use of AI comes with a requirement to support workers
• Artificial Intelligence policies must be consistent with a dedication to advancing equity and civil rights.
• The interests of citizens who increasingly use, interact with, or purchase AI and AI-enabled products in their daily lives must be protected.
• Privacy and civil liberties must be protected as AI continues advancing. 
• The US Government needs to manage its own use of AI and increase its internal capacity to regulate, govern, and support the responsible use of AI.
• The US Government should lead the way to global societal, economic, and technological progress.

The principles in the order are likely to need Congressional backing especially as they relate to privacy law and civil rights meaning these will need to be steered through a fractious and dis-functional House of Representatives the Administration has flagged that it will use the legislative tools already available to it to rein in Big Tech which typically bristles at anything that even hints at regulation.

Immediate action

For instance, it will use the Defense Production Act to require that developers of the most powerful AI systems share their safety test results and other critical information with the US government.

In addition, "The National Institute of Standards and Technology will set the rigorous standards for extensive red-team testing to ensure safety before public release. The Department of Homeland Security will apply those standards to critical infrastructure sectors and establish the AI Safety and Security Board."

Furthermore, the Departments of Energy and Homeland Security will also address AI systems’ threats to critical infrastructure, as well as chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and cybersecurity risks.

The Administration claims that this represents the most significant action ever taken by any government to advance the field of AI safety.

The US Government is also moving to clearly identify AI-generated content. "The Department of Commerce will develop guidance for content authentication and watermarking to clearly label AI-generated content."