United StatesExecutive Order 13960, Promoting the Use of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in the Federal Government
Exec. Order No. 13960, 85 Fed. Reg. 78939 ()
In force since .
An AI governance rule binding government bodies.
- Obligation class
- Governance, Disclosure
As of .
What it requires
- This order binds executive agencies and creates no right enforceable against the United States; it excludes the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community elements and AI used in defense or national security systems, and it reaches a vendor only through AI that a third party develops on behalf of an agency or that an agency procures (Sections 8(b), 9(c), 9(d) and 10(c)).
- If you are an executive agency, design, develop, acquire and use AI in line with the Principles: lawful and respectful of the Nation's values, purposeful and performance-driven, accurate, reliable and effective, safe, secure and resilient, understandable, responsible and traceable, regularly monitored, transparent, and accountable (Section 3).
- Specify the official or officials responsible for coordinating implementation of the Principles within 30 days of (Section 8(c)).
- Prepare an inventory of your non-classified and non-sensitive AI use cases, including current and planned uses, within 180 days of the CIO Council's completion of its criteria and annually thereafter (Section 5(b)).
- Develop plans, within 120 days of completing your inventory, either to bring each AI application into consistency with the order or to retire an application developed or used in an inconsistent manner (Section 5(c)(i)).
- Make your inventory available to the public within 120 days of completing it, to the extent practicable and in accordance with applicable law and policy (Section 5(e)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
What this law does
Executive Order 13960 was issued on under the title Promoting the Use of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in the Federal Government. Section 3 establishes Principles for the use of AI in the Federal Government for purposes other than national security and defense.
When designing, developing, acquiring, and using AI in the Federal Government, agencies must adhere to the nine Principles: lawful and respectful of the Nation's values, purposeful and performance-driven, accurate, reliable and effective, safe, secure and resilient, understandable, responsible and traceable, regularly monitored, transparent, and accountable.
Within 180 days of the date of the CIO Council's completion of its criteria, and annually thereafter, each agency must prepare an inventory of its non-classified and non-sensitive use cases of AI, including current and planned uses. Within 120 days of completing its inventory, each agency must develop plans either to achieve consistency with the order for each AI application or to retire AI applications developed or used in a manner that is not consistent with it.
Within 120 days of completing their inventories, agencies must make them available to the public, to the extent practicable and in accordance with applicable law and policy. Within 30 days of the date of the order, each agency must specify the responsible official or officials who will coordinate implementation of the Principles. The term agency covers all agencies described in section 3502(1) of title 44 of the United States Code, except the agencies described in subsection (5) of that section.
The order applies to agencies that have use cases for AI within its scope, and excludes the Department of Defense and those agencies and agency components with functions that lie wholly within the Intelligence Community. The order applies to both existing and new uses of AI, to AI developed by the agency or by third parties on behalf of agencies for specific agency missions, and to agencies' procurement of AI applications.
The order does not apply to AI used in defense or national security systems, to AI embedded within common commercial products such as word processors or map navigation systems, or to AI research and development activities. The order creates no right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States. Executive Order 14319 of states that it builds on this order.
OMB Memorandum M-25-21 of directs agencies to ensure their AI use is trustworthy, secure, and accountable, in accordance with this order. OMB Memorandum M-26-04 of states that its guidance builds on existing directives and policies that address agencies' acquisition and use of AI, such as this order.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app makes high-risk automated decisions or distributes a software product.