A bipartisan bill introduced today by Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., seeks to codify into law the position of the chief AI officer (CAIO) at every Federal agency and ensure coordination across the Federal government on the use of AI by making permanent a CAIO Council.
The congressmen’s AI Leadership to Enable Accountable Deployment (AI LEAD) Act has a companion bill in the Senate led by Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and John Cornyn, R-Texas.
“Artificial intelligence is poised to have a profound impact on how the government carries out its mission,” said Rep. Connolly, who serves as the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, IT, and Government Innovation. “The federal government needs dedicated leadership to manage the potential disruption, risks, and promise of AI.”
“Our legislation, which I am proud to introduce with Rep. Garbarino, will inject structure and accountability into the government’s management of AI and will ensure that every agency has the leadership in place to oversee the deployment of AI technology in safe and efficient ways,” the congressman said.
The AI LEAD Act comes just two weeks after the 24 CFO Act agencies were required by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to designate CAIOs to advise agency leadership on AI, coordinate and track the agency’s AI activities, advance the use of AI in the agency’s mission, and oversee the management of AI risks.
OMB’s Federal AI guidance – which was issued in March at the discretion of the Biden administration’s October 2023 AI executive order – also calls for each of the government’s largest agencies to establish AI Governance Boards, chaired by the deputy secretary and vice-chaired by the CAIO.
The administration announced this week that Federal Chief Information Officer Clare Martorana and Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Policy Austin Bonner will serve as the CAIO Council chair and vice chair.
According to OMB’s Director of AI, Conrad Stosz, the CAIO Council has been meeting regularly for the past six months.
Reps. Connolly and Garbarino’s new AI LEAD Act would create a CAIO position at every Federal agency – not just the 24 largest – within 45 days of the bill’s enactment. It would also create an AI board of senior officials at each agency to coordinate and integrate AI activities and policy across the agency.
The bill also establishes an interagency CAIO Council to ensure there is coordination across the Federal government on the use of AI. The bill calls for the director of OMB to serve as the chair of this council.
Finally, the bill instructs every Federal agency to develop an AI strategy and requires the head of every agency to be accountable for ensuring the responsible research, development, acquisition, and use of AI.
“As Chairman of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee, I have been examining the impact of artificial intelligence on national security as it relates to threats against our nation’s critical infrastructure and addressing our cyber workforce challenges,” said Rep. Garbarino. “Codifying consistency in AI oversight, usage, and development across government agencies would aid coordination between agencies and ensure government is operating in lockstep in these areas.”
“By establishing Chief AI Officer positions within our agencies and ensuring interagency cooperation on AI, this legislation would go a long way to mitigating the risks and maximizing the opportunities present by AI development and deployment,” he added.
