Global AI Governance Law and Policy: US

This article is part of a series on global AI governance law and policy.

The U.S. lacks an omnibus federal law that specifically targets artificial intelligence governance. A market-driven approach of self-regulation has been traditionally preferred over government intervention when addressing emerging risks of privacy, civil rights and antitrust, reflecting an effort to foster competitive innovation.

As such, federal involvement in AI policy has mainly come from the issuance of agency guidance opinions when interpreting existing statute in the context of the usage of AI technology. Additionally, executive orders issued by the recent several presidential administrations have directed federal government policy and practice on AI governance, catalyzing a series of agency regulations focused on government use of AI.

The U.S. established the Center for AI Standards and Innovation, housed within the National Institute of Standards and Technology and aided by a consortium of over 280 AI stakeholders who support its mission.

Numerous states have proposed and, in some cases, enacted AI laws. Colorado was the first to enact comprehensive, state-level, AI regulation that focuses on algorithmic discrimination. California has enacted a series of legislation to address several of the key concerns that have risen since the advent of AI. Federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, have made it clear their existing legal authorities extend to the use of new technologies, including AI.

History and context

The formal inception of AI as a field of academic research can be traced to Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. In 1955, a group of scientists and mathematicians gathered for a summer workshop to test the idea that "every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it."