Administration Publishes AI National Policy Framework

Following a December Executive Order, the White House has published its National Policy Framework on Artificial Intelligence. The framework establishes federal priorities for AI policy and is broken down into seven policy objectives:

1. Protecting Children and Empowering Parents
2. Safeguarding and Strengthening American Communities (building data centers)
3. Respecting Intellectual Property Rights and Supporting Creators
4. Preventing Censorship and Protecting Free Speech
5. Enabling Innovation and Ensuring American AI Dominance
6. Educating Americans and Developing an AI-Ready Workforce
7. Establishing a Federal Policy Framework, Preempting Cumbersome State AI Laws

Yesterday, I wrote about new Republican-led legislation introduced last week. Ironically, while published the same day as the new National Policy Framework, the proposed legislation differs substantially on several key points. The first is IP law. Under the proposed legislation, training AI on copyrighted content would be barred from protection under fair use. However, the National Policy Framework states that it is the administration’s opinion that such training is fair use. The policy document urges Congress to leave the issue of IP law to the courts and not weigh in at all.

Additionally, there is a divide on preemption. The proposed bill would expressly not preempt state law and common law related to AI. The National Policy Framework, on the other hand, makes such preemption a key priority. It’s unclear where the disconnect between the White House and Senator Blackburn’s office is, but for any administration-backed AI bill, we can probably expect those discrepancies to resolve in favor of the White House.