FOX, Bloomberg Law Quote Reggie Babin on Biden AI EO

Following on his recent conversations with The Washington Post (here, here), Akin lobbying & public policy senior counsel Reggie Babin appeared on the Bloomberg Law podcast and on FOX’s LiveNOW to discuss President Biden’s recently issued executive order on artificial intelligence (AI).

On FOX (viewable here), for the segment “Breaking down Biden's executive order on A.I.,” Reggie discussed the extent to which the new EO would limit business:

“Well, it depends on what kind of business you are, right? If you’re a service provider who is deploying AI technology, it doesn’t appear that there’s much in there that’s going to be significantly limiting to those types of endeavors. If you’re a very advanced technology company that is developing the most advanced models, frankly, that are more powerful than anything that we see now, it includes additional reporting requirements, additional requirements to engage with government to ensure that they’re developing and eventually deploying those technologies safely. But the reality is much of what’s in the EO appears to be in line with the voluntary commitment that many companies entered into with the White House earlier this year, and, so, time will tell whether and to what extent these additional burdens are a hindrance or in any way onerous to companies. But, at least on the surface, it appears to be in line with what has already been deemed feasible and practical.”

On the Bloomberg Law episode “SBF Testimony, Google Antitrust and AI” (listen here beginning at 27:47), Reggie covered a number of topics, saying about the significance of the President’s EO: “At a minimum, it serves as a clear signal to the world of what the President and this administration’s priorities are as it relates to artificial intelligence. There’s been a bit of a vacuum of sorts in American leadership on the issue as it relates to AI governance. But now there is a clear, digestible set of principles and set of mandates that reflect where this administration would like see the technology go…So, it’s both a huge political signal and will likely shape the global AI governance conversation, but also has some fairly significant implications for the domestic AI development process and the U.S.’s desire to maintain its global lead in that space.”