Biden to release AI national security memo

President Joe Biden will issue a memo and framework on the use of AI in the context of national security Thursday, with the aim of providing steps for U.S. leadership and guardrails for governance of the technology.

Under the memo, agencies will be directed to access “the most powerful AI systems and put them to use,” senior administration officials who briefed reporters on the memo ahead of its release said. The memo will also bolster the role of the AI Safety Institute and provide direction to agencies for AI use for national security.

The officials said the principles guiding work on the memo were U.S. leadership on safe, secure and trustworthy AI development and establishing a framework to advance responsible AI governance internationally. As such, they said the memo will also serve “as a formal charter for the AI Safety Institute in the Department of Commerce.” It also designates the AI Safety Institute as “the primary port of call” for U.S. industry.

Alongside the memo, the administration will release a document called “The Framework for AI Governance and Risk Management for National Security,” the officials said, which will provide guidance on federal deployment of AI in the national security space.

The documents will add a new piece to the growing federal governance framework for AI usage, namely filling a notable gap that existed for national security systems. While the administration already released guidance to executive agencies on AI governance (M-24-10), that guidance explicitly doesn’t cover AI as part of a national security system and noted that the national security memo was forthcoming to address those uses.

A national security memo on AI was among the requirements in Biden’s October 2023 executive order on the technology. Under that order, the memo is intended to “address the governance of AI used as a component of a national security system or for military and intelligence purposes” and will outline steps for certain agencies to address the technology’s national security risks and benefits.

Per the order, the memo was required to be sent to the president in late July — 270 days after the order was released. In July, a White House spokesperson confirmed to FedScoop that the memo had been sent to the president and that a non-classified version would be made public at a later date.

On the call with reporters ahead of the memo’s release, the officials said most of the memo is unclassified and will be released publicly, though it also includes “a classified annex that primarily addresses adversary threats.” 

The new memo will also call for new actions on chip supply chains, direct government entities to assist developers with securing their inventions, and “doubles down” on the importance of the National AI Research Resource at the National Science Foundation, according to a fact sheet shared by the White House.

In addition to the release of the memo Thursday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is expected to speak at the National Defense University about why AI is critical for national intelligence and the need for the country to strengthen its own AI advantages, the officials said.