Other reports in this series:
- Government AI Hire, Use, Buy (HUB) Roundtable Series – Roundtable 2: Government as an Employer of AI Talent
- Government AI Hire, Use, Buy (HUB) Roundtable Series – Roundtable 3: Government as a Buyer of AI
- Government AI Hire, Use, Buy (HUB) Roundtable Series – Roundtable 4: Capstone
Introduction
The U.S. government has embraced the potential of artificial intelligence, but there are not yet sufficiently comprehensive strategies and guardrails, nor robust interagency coordination, across federal agencies to maximize AI public good applications while mitigating risks. In light of this gap, Georgetown’s Government AI Hire, Use, Buy (HUB) Roundtable Series brings together leading voices to grapple with the legal liability questions that AI poses, examine AI’s potential to transform government services, and consider how the government can better attract and use AI talent.
The federal government has been particularly active on AI over the last two years. Following the release of several advanced large language models, President Biden signed the groundbreaking Executive Order (EO) on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence in October 2023.1 In March 2024, the Office of Management and Budget released its government-wide policy, Advancing Governance, Innovation, and Risk Management for Agency Use of Artificial Intelligence, which complements the recently finalized European Union AI Act.2 Additionally, the Government Accountability Office conducted its audit of current AI uses by federal agencies.3 However, many questions on the U.S. government’s use, procurement, and hiring of AI tools and talent remain unaddressed.
Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology and Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation, together with the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law and Policy (Tech Institute), led a series of invite-only roundtables over the course of 2024 to discuss these pressing questions. This resulting report was authored in 2024 after those discussions.
This report summarizes and reflects on the key findings, insights, and recommendations from the first roundtable of the HUB Series: “Government as a User of AI.” This roundtable was led by the Tech Institute and focused on the U.S. government’s use of AI technologies. The HUB Series operates under the Chatham House Rule; therefore, all names, affiliations, and other identifying information have been omitted from this report.
The HUB Series is funded by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.
Download Full Report
Government AI Hire, Use, Buy (HUB) Roundtable Series – Roundtable 1: Government as a User of AI- Exec. Order No. 14110, 88 FR 75191 (2023), www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/01/2023-24283/safe-secure-and-trustworthy-development-and-use-of-artificial-intelligence.
- Director of Office of Management and Budget, Advancing Governance, Innovation, and Risk Management for Agency Use of Artificial Intelligence, M-24-10, March 28, 2024, www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/M-24-10-Advancing-Governance-Innovation-and-Risk-Management-for-Agency-Use-of-Artificial-Intelligence.pdf; European Union, “Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 Laying Down Harmonised Rules on Artificial Intelligence and Amending Regulations (EC) No 300/2008, (EU) No 167/2013, (EU) No 168/2013, (EU) 2018/858, (EU) 2018/1139 and (EU) 2019/2144 and Directives 2014/90/EU, (EU) 2016/797 and (EU) 2020/1828 (Artificial Intelligence Act)Text with EEA Relevance” (2024), https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/the-act/.
- Government Accountability Office, Artificial Intelligence: Agencies Have Begun Implementation but Need to Complete Key Requirements (Washington, D.C: Government Accountability Office, December 2023), www.gao.gov/assets/d24105980.pdf.