White House Official: NIST to Drive New Executive Order to Assert US Leadership in AI Technology

The National Institute of Standards and Technology will be a major implementer of the Biden administration’s upcoming executive order designed to boost and maintain U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence, a White House official said.

Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, disclosed that the NIST will “have a huge role to play” in the EO’s goal of growing and keeping a strong AI workforce as the U.S. competitive edge, NextGov/FCW reported.

Prabhakar said the NIST’s activities to pursue the Biden administration’s AI policy will include collaboration with the industry and the research community and increased AI model testing.

The NIST Generative AI Public Working Group, which was formed in June 2023, is a mechanism already geared at fulfilling the roles.

According to Prabhakar, the Office of Management and Budget will also issue an AI technology guidance, offering another opportunity to present U.S. leadership in creating codified AI protocols.

The OSTP director spoke about the policy, which is expected to be released in the week of Oct. 30, at a Washington Post Live event on Thursday.