[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 31 (Thursday, February 14, 2019)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 3967-3972]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-02544]


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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 31 / Thursday, February 14, 2019 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 3967]]

                Executive Order 13859 of February 11, 2019

                
Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial 
                Intelligence

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

                Section 1. Policy and Principles. Artificial 
                Intelligence (AI) promises to drive growth of the 
                United States economy, enhance our economic and 
                national security, and improve our quality of life. The 
                United States is the world leader in AI research and 
                development (R&D) and deployment. Continued American 
                leadership in AI is of paramount importance to 
                maintaining the economic and national security of the 
                United States and to shaping the global evolution of AI 
                in a manner consistent with our Nation's values, 
                policies, and priorities. The Federal Government plays 
                an important role in facilitating AI R&D, promoting the 
                trust of the American people in the development and 
                deployment of AI-related technologies, training a 
                workforce capable of using AI in their occupations, and 
                protecting the American AI technology base from 
                attempted acquisition by strategic competitors and 
                adversarial nations. Maintaining American leadership in 
                AI requires a concerted effort to promote advancements 
                in technology and innovation, while protecting American 
                technology, economic and national security, civil 
                liberties, privacy, and American values and enhancing 
                international and industry collaboration with foreign 
                partners and allies. It is the policy of the United 
                States Government to sustain and enhance the 
                scientific, technological, and economic leadership 
                position of the United States in AI R&D and deployment 
                through a coordinated Federal Government strategy, the 
                American AI Initiative (Initiative), guided by five 
                principles:

                    (a) The United States must drive technological 
                breakthroughs in AI across the Federal Government, 
                industry, and academia in order to promote scientific 
                discovery, economic competitiveness, and national 
                security.
                    (b) The United States must drive development of 
                appropriate technical standards and reduce barriers to 
                the safe testing and deployment of AI technologies in 
                order to enable the creation of new AI-related 
                industries and the adoption of AI by today's 
                industries.
                    (c) The United States must train current and future 
                generations of American workers with the skills to 
                develop and apply AI technologies to prepare them for 
                today's economy and jobs of the future.
                    (d) The United States must foster public trust and 
                confidence in AI technologies and protect civil 
                liberties, privacy, and American values in their 
                application in order to fully realize the potential of 
                AI technologies for the American people.
                    (e) The United States must promote an international 
                environment that supports American AI research and 
                innovation and opens markets for American AI 
                industries, while protecting our technological 
                advantage in AI and protecting our critical AI 
                technologies from acquisition by strategic competitors 
                and adversarial nations.

                Sec. 2. Objectives. Artificial Intelligence will affect 
                the missions of nearly all executive departments and 
                agencies (agencies). Agencies determined to be 
                implementing agencies pursuant to section 3 of this 
                order shall pursue six strategic objectives in 
                furtherance of both promoting and protecting American 
                advancements in AI:

                    (a) Promote sustained investment in AI R&D in 
                collaboration with industry, academia, international 
                partners and allies, and other non-Federal entities

[[Page 3968]]

                to generate technological breakthroughs in AI and 
                related technologies and to rapidly transition those 
                breakthroughs into capabilities that contribute to our 
                economic and national security.
                    (b) Enhance access to high-quality and fully 
                traceable Federal data, models, and computing resources 
                to increase the value of such resources for AI R&D, 
                while maintaining safety, security, privacy, and 
                confidentiality protections consistent with applicable 
                laws and policies.
                    (c) Reduce barriers to the use of AI technologies 
                to promote their innovative application while 
                protecting American technology, economic and national 
                security, civil liberties, privacy, and values.
                    (d) Ensure that technical standards minimize 
                vulnerability to attacks from malicious actors and 
                reflect Federal priorities for innovation, public 
                trust, and public confidence in systems that use AI 
                technologies; and develop international standards to 
                promote and protect those priorities.
                    (e) Train the next generation of American AI 
                researchers and users through apprenticeships; skills 
                programs; and education in science, technology, 
                engineering, and mathematics (STEM), with an emphasis 
                on computer science, to ensure that American workers, 
                including Federal workers, are capable of taking full 
                advantage of the opportunities of AI.
                    (f) Develop and implement an action plan, in 
                accordance with the National Security Presidential 
                Memorandum of February 11, 2019 (Protecting the United 
                States Advantage in Artificial Intelligence and Related 
                Critical Technologies) (the NSPM) to protect the 
                advantage of the United States in AI and technology 
                critical to United States economic and national 
                security interests against strategic competitors and 
                foreign adversaries.

                Sec. 3. Roles and Responsibilities. The Initiative 
                shall be coordinated through the National Science and 
                Technology Council (NSTC) Select Committee on 
                Artificial Intelligence (Select Committee). Actions 
                shall be implemented by agencies that conduct 
                foundational AI R&D, develop and deploy applications of 
                AI technologies, provide educational grants, and 
                regulate and provide guidance for applications of AI 
                technologies, as determined by the co-chairs of the 
                NSTC Select Committee (implementing agencies).

                Sec. 4. Federal Investment in AI Research and 
                Development.

                    (a) Heads of implementing agencies that also 
                perform or fund R&D (AI R&D agencies), shall consider 
                AI as an agency R&D priority, as appropriate to their 
                respective agencies' missions, consistent with 
                applicable law and in accordance with the Office of 
                Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Science 
                and Technology Policy (OSTP) R&D priorities memoranda. 
                Heads of such agencies shall take this priority into 
                account when developing budget proposals and planning 
                for the use of funds in Fiscal Year 2020 and in future 
                years. Heads of these agencies shall also consider 
                appropriate administrative actions to increase focus on 
                AI for 2019.
                    (b) Heads of AI R&D agencies shall budget an amount 
                for AI R&D that is appropriate for this prioritization.

(i) Following the submission of the President's Budget request to the 
Congress, heads of such agencies shall communicate plans for achieving this 
prioritization to the OMB Director and the OSTP Director each fiscal year 
through the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development 
(NITRD) Program.

(ii) Within 90 days of the enactment of appropriations for their respective 
agencies, heads of such agencies shall identify each year, consistent with 
applicable law, the programs to which the AI R&D priority will apply and 
estimate the total amount of such funds that will be spent on each such 
program. This information shall be communicated to the OMB Director and 
OSTP Director each fiscal year through the NITRD Program.

                    (c) To the extent appropriate and consistent with 
                applicable law, heads of AI R&D agencies shall explore 
                opportunities for collaboration with non-

[[Page 3969]]

                Federal entities, including: the private sector; 
                academia; non-profit organizations; State, local, 
                tribal, and territorial governments; and foreign 
                partners and allies, so all collaborators can benefit 
                from each other's investment and expertise in AI R&D.

                Sec. 5. Data and Computing Resources for AI Research 
                and Development.

                    (a) Heads of all agencies shall review their 
                Federal data and models to identify opportunities to 
                increase access and use by the greater non-Federal AI 
                research community in a manner that benefits that 
                community, while protecting safety, security, privacy, 
                and confidentiality. Specifically, agencies shall 
                improve data and model inventory documentation to 
                enable discovery and usability, and shall prioritize 
                improvements to access and quality of AI data and 
                models based on the AI research community's user 
                feedback.

(i) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the OMB Director shall 
publish a notice in the Federal Register inviting the public to identify 
additional requests for access or quality improvements for Federal data and 
models that would improve AI R&D and testing. Additionally, within 90 days 
of the date of this order, OMB, in conjunction with the Select Committee, 
shall investigate barriers to access or quality limitations of Federal data 
and models that impede AI R&D and testing. Collectively, these actions by 
OMB will help to identify datasets that will facilitate non-Federal AI R&D 
and testing.

(ii) Within 120 days of the date of this order, OMB, including through its 
interagency councils and the Select Committee, shall update implementation 
guidance for Enterprise Data Inventories and Source Code Inventories to 
support discovery and usability in AI R&D.

(iii) Within 180 days of the date of this order, and in accordance with the 
implementation of the Cross-Agency Priority Goal: Leveraging Federal Data 
as a Strategic Asset, from the March 2018 President's Management Agenda, 
agencies shall consider methods of improving the quality, usability, and 
appropriate access to priority data identified by the AI research 
community. Agencies shall also identify any associated resource 
implications.

(iv) In identifying data and models for consideration for increased public 
access, agencies, in coordination with the Senior Agency Officials for 
Privacy established pursuant to Executive Order 13719 of February 9, 2016 
(Establishment of the Federal Privacy Council), the heads of Federal 
statistical entities, Federal program managers, and other relevant 
personnel shall identify any barriers to, or requirements associated with, 
increased access to and use of such data and models, including:

  (A) privacy and civil liberty protections for individuals who may be 
affected by increased access and use, as well as confidentiality 
protections for individuals and other data providers;

  (B) safety and security concerns, including those related to the 
association or compilation of data and models;

  (C) data documentation and formatting, including the need for 
interoperable and machine-readable data formats;

  (D) changes necessary to ensure appropriate data and system governance; 
and

  (E) any other relevant considerations.

(v) In accordance with the President's Management Agenda and the Cross-
Agency Priority Goal: Leveraging Data as a Strategic Asset, agencies shall 
identify opportunities to use new technologies and best practices to 
increase access to and usability of open data and models, and explore 
appropriate controls on access to sensitive or restricted data and models, 
consistent with applicable laws and policies, privacy and confidentiality 
protections, and civil liberty protections.

[[Page 3970]]

                    (b) The Secretaries of Defense, Commerce, Health 
                and Human Services, and Energy, the Administrator of 
                the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and 
                the Director of the National Science Foundation shall, 
                to the extent appropriate and consistent with 
                applicable law, prioritize the allocation of high-
                performance computing resources for AI-related 
                applications through:

(i) increased assignment of discretionary allocation of resources and 
resource reserves; or

(ii) any other appropriate mechanisms.

                    (c) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the 
                Select Committee, in coordination with the General 
                Services Administration (GSA), shall submit a report to 
                the President making recommendations on better enabling 
                the use of cloud computing resources for federally 
                funded AI R&D.
                    (d) The Select Committee shall provide technical 
                expertise to the American Technology Council on matters 
                regarding AI and the modernization of Federal 
                technology, data, and the delivery of digital services, 
                as appropriate.

                Sec. 6. Guidance for Regulation of AI Applications.

                    (a) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the 
                OMB Director, in coordination with the OSTP Director, 
                the Director of the Domestic Policy Council, and the 
                Director of the National Economic Council, and in 
                consultation with any other relevant agencies and key 
                stakeholders as the OMB Director shall determine, shall 
                issue a memorandum to the heads of all agencies that 
                shall:

(i) inform the development of regulatory and non-regulatory approaches by 
such agencies regarding technologies and industrial sectors that are either 
empowered or enabled by AI, and that advance American innovation while 
upholding civil liberties, privacy, and American values; and

(ii) consider ways to reduce barriers to the use of AI technologies in 
order to promote their innovative application while protecting civil 
liberties, privacy, American values, and United States economic and 
national security.

                    (b) To help ensure public trust in the development 
                and implementation of AI applications, OMB shall issue 
                a draft version of the memorandum for public comment 
                before it is finalized.
                    (c) Within 180 days of the date of the memorandum 
                described in subsection (a) of this section, the heads 
                of implementing agencies that also have regulatory 
                authorities shall review their authorities relevant to 
                applications of AI and shall submit to OMB plans to 
                achieve consistency with the memorandum.
                    (d) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the 
                Secretary of Commerce, through the Director of the 
                National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 
                shall issue a plan for Federal engagement in the 
                development of technical standards and related tools in 
                support of reliable, robust, and trustworthy systems 
                that use AI technologies. NIST shall lead the 
                development of this plan with participation from 
                relevant agencies as the Secretary of Commerce shall 
                determine.

(i) Consistent with OMB Circular A-119, this plan shall include:

  (A) Federal priority needs for standardization of AI systems development 
and deployment;

  (B) identification of standards development entities in which Federal 
agencies should seek membership with the goal of establishing or supporting 
United States technical leadership roles; and

  (C) opportunities for and challenges to United States leadership in 
standardization related to AI technologies.

(ii) This plan shall be developed in consultation with the Select 
Committee, as needed, and in consultation with the private sector, 
academia, non-governmental entities, and other stakeholders, as 
appropriate.

[[Page 3971]]

                Sec. 7. AI and the American Workforce.

                    (a) Heads of implementing agencies that also 
                provide educational grants shall, to the extent 
                consistent with applicable law, consider AI as a 
                priority area within existing Federal fellowship and 
                service programs.

(i) Eligible programs for prioritization shall give preference to American 
citizens, to the extent permitted by law, and shall include:

  (A) high school, undergraduate, and graduate fellowship; alternative 
education; and training programs;

  (B) programs to recognize and fund early-career university faculty who 
conduct AI R&D, including through Presidential awards and recognitions;

  (C) scholarship for service programs;

  (D) direct commissioning programs of the United States Armed Forces; and

  (E) programs that support the development of instructional programs and 
curricula that encourage the integration of AI technologies into courses in 
order to facilitate personalized and adaptive learning experiences for 
formal and informal education and training.

(ii) Agencies shall annually communicate plans for achieving this 
prioritization to the co-chairs of the Select Committee.

                    (b) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the 
                Select Committee shall provide recommendations to the 
                NSTC Committee on STEM Education regarding AI-related 
                educational and workforce development considerations 
                that focus on American citizens.
                    (c) The Select Committee shall provide technical 
                expertise to the National Council for the American 
                Worker on matters regarding AI and the American 
                workforce, as appropriate.

                Sec. 8. Action Plan for Protection of the United States 
                Advantage in AI Technologies.

                    (a) As directed by the NSPM, the Assistant to the 
                President for National Security Affairs, in 
                coordination with the OSTP Director and the recipients 
                of the NSPM, shall organize the development of an 
                action plan to protect the United States advantage in 
                AI and AI technology critical to United States economic 
                and national security interests against strategic 
                competitors and adversarial nations.
                    (b) The action plan shall be provided to the 
                President within 120 days of the date of this order, 
                and may be classified in full or in part, as 
                appropriate.
                    (c) Upon approval by the President, the action plan 
                shall be implemented by all agencies who are recipients 
                of the NSPM, for all AI-related activities, including 
                those conducted pursuant to this order.

                Sec. 9. Definitions. As used in this order:

                    (a) the term ``artificial intelligence'' means the 
                full extent of Federal investments in AI, to include: 
                R&D of core AI techniques and technologies; AI 
                prototype systems; application and adaptation of AI 
                techniques; architectural and systems support for AI; 
                and cyberinfrastructure, data sets, and standards for 
                AI; and
                    (b) the term ``open data'' shall, in accordance 
                with OMB Circular A-130 and memorandum M-13-13, mean 
                ``publicly available data structured in a way that 
                enables the data to be fully discoverable and usable by 
                end users.''

                Sec. 10. General Provisions.

                    (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to 
                impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or 
the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of OMB relating to budgetary, 
administrative, or legislative proposals.

[[Page 3972]]

                    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with 
                applicable law and subject to the availability of 
                appropriations.
                    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, 
                create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
                the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
                entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
                other person.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    February 11, 2019.

[FR Doc. 2019-02544
Filed 2-13-19; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F9-P