Tiny superheroes, fun-size dinosaurs, and overgrown insects squealed at the White House on Monday. The costumed children celebrating Halloween with President Biden weren’t there for the unveiling of a sweeping new executive order on artificial intelligence. Yet as the US government digests its lengthy, new to-do list and Vice President Kamala Harris heads to a UK summit on AI to sell the president’s vision, leaders in Congress and nations around the world may be asking themselves, trick or treat?
While this White House is bullish on the power of the president’s pen, executive orders have limited power domestically—and none overseas. Behind the White House’s rosy PR push about setting a new course for AI lurk the scary but very real monsters of congressional dysfunction and international rivals. Without overcoming both, Biden’s AI vision could struggle to take root as his administration hopes it will.
In Bidenland, where WIRED spent Monday afternoon, everything’s fine though. “As artificial intelligence expands the boundary of human possibility and tests the bounds of human understanding, this landmark executive order is a testament to what we stand for: safety, security, trust, openness, American leadership,” Biden told guests—costumed in scary Washington power suits—gathered in the East Wing of the White House for a signing ceremony. For a moment, another potential government shutdown just 18 days away and China’s determination to leapfrog US technological dominance seemed like just scary stories.
Just as AI is—or soon will be—everywhere, Biden’s executive order touches just about everything the federal government does. It mandates “clear standards to protect rights and safety, improve AI procurement, and strengthen AI deployment” for all government agencies.
Biden even aims to gain a measure of control over private AI projects. He plans to deploy the Defense Production Act—written to allow government control of industries during wartime—to force private US technology firms to report sensitive details of their most secretive AI development projects to the federal government.
“This executive order will use the same authority to make companies prove—prove—that their most powerful systems are safe before allowing them to be used,” Biden said.
Vice President Harris was at his side for the announcement but is taking his AI vision on the road for the rest of the week. She’ll be taking her own agenda to the UK’s Summit on AI Safety, hosted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and primarily focused on far-off AI risks.
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