Technology guardrails

Deputy Attorney General: Corporate AI Use, Risk Management Faces Tighter DOJ Scrutiny

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the Department of Justice will review how companies manage artificial intelligence risks every time the department updates its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs detailing policies and procedures to pinpoint misconduct and ensure compliance with the law. For the next ECCP update, Monaco has directed the DOJ’s Criminal Division to define the companies’ compliance responsibilities for managing AI risks.

Speaking at the American Bar Association’s National Institute on White Collar Crime conference in San Francisco Thursday, Monaco stressed the companies’ legal responsibility to mitigate AI risk, the Associated Press reported Friday.

The DOJ official also warned of harsher sentences for white-collar crimes such as price fixing or market manipulation using AI.

Monaco acknowledged AI’s potential benefits but also pointed out the “great peril” when criminals use the technology to advance illegal activities like corporate crime.

In a speech at the University of Oxford in February, Monaco disclosed the DOJ’s six-month “Justice AI” initiative to gather information from technology experts as inputs for a report to President Joe Biden on taking full advantage of AI’s potential while taming the risks.

On March 21, join the Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual AI Summit, where federal leaders and industry experts converge to explore the transformative power of artificial intelligence.