A new report out today by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) calls on the Federal government to implement several policy recommendations focused on embracing openness in AI while also calling for active monitoring of risks in powerful AI models.
The 74-page Report on Dual-Use Foundation Models with Widely Available Model Weights recommends the government develop new capabilities to monitor for potential risks, but refrain from immediately restricting the wide availability of open model weights in the largest AI systems.
President Biden’s October 2023 AI executive order (EO) directed NTIA to review the risks and benefits of large AI models with widely available weights and develop policy recommendations to maximize those benefits while mitigating the risks.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is pulling every lever to maximize the promise of AI while minimizing its risks,” Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement today. “Today’s report provides a roadmap for responsible AI innovation and American leadership by embracing openness and recommending how the U.S. government can prepare for and adapt to potential challenges ahead.”
“Open weight” models allow developers to build upon and adapt previous work, broadening AI tools’ availability to small companies, researchers, nonprofits, and individuals.
“Dual-use foundation models with widely available model weights … introduce a wide spectrum of benefits,” the report says. “They diversify and expand the array of actors, including less resourced actors, that participate in AI research and development. They decentralize AI market control from a few large AI developers. And they enable users to leverage models without sharing data with third parties, increasing confidentiality and data protection.”
To monitor for emerging risks, the report calls for the government to develop an ongoing program to collect evidence of risks and benefits, evaluate that evidence, and act on those evaluations, including possible restrictions on model weight availability.
“The openness of the largest and most powerful AI systems will affect competition, innovation and risks in these revolutionary tools,” said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson. “NTIA’s report recognizes the importance of open AI systems and calls for more active monitoring of risks from the wide availability of model weights for the largest AI models. Government has a key role to play in supporting AI development while building capacity to understand and address new risks.”
“CDT appreciates that the NTIA correctly concluded that there is not yet enough evidence of novel risks from open foundation models to warrant new restrictions on their distribution,” Center for Democracy & Technology Senior Advisor on AI Governance Kevin Bankston said in a statement. “This is especially true when considering the much clearer evidence of benefits from AI openness: to transparency, security, innovation, competition, and the availability of AI to historically marginalized communities. These benefits accrue to everyone in the ecosystem, from those who develop and deploy AI systems to everyday users and consumers.”
“Mozilla is happy to see the U.S. Government further recognize the importance of open source AI for promoting innovation, competition, and accountability in AI,” said Jenn Taylor Hodges, Mozilla’s director of U.S. public policy & government relations. “We believe open source AI will help create a future where anyone — and any community — can shape, enjoy, and trust AI. We hope to see the federal government put more resources into supporting the open source AI ecosystem, so that it can provide a true counterweight to Big Tech.”
Today’s report from NTIA came as the administration announced Friday that it has hit the nine-month mark of its AI EO, and Federal agencies remain on track with their required directives – with two agencies reporting they are ahead of schedule.
