President Biden has signed a new Executive Order aimed at regulating artificial intelligence to prevent it from being misused by corporations.

According to a White House press release, the Executive Order establishes new standards for the safety and security of AI, privacy protections for the use of AI, and promotes innovation and competition so that the United States can lead in technology development.

As a result of this landmark Executive Order, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and other companies will be required to share safety test results and other critical information with the US government. This will not apply to ChatGPT and Google Bard, but will apply to future generations of the AI model used to power these chatbots.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has also been charged with developing standards, tools, and tests to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of AI systems. Once these are completed, the Department of Homeland Security will apply these standards to the critical infrastructure sector and establish an AI Safety and Security Committee.

Given the potential for AI to be used for phishing and fraud, the Department of Commerce will require that AI-generated content be watermarked. It will also work to develop content authentication guidance to make it easier for Americans to know if communications they receive from the government are authentic. This should reduce the use of AI in identity theft scams designed to steal Social Security numbers and other sensitive data. [This new Executive Order also builds on the Biden Administration's AI Cyber Challenge Initiative, which aims to make the software and networks used by the government more secure by harnessing the power of AI to find and fix vulnerabilities in critical software. At the same time, the Executive Order will also establish a new National Security Memorandum on AI by the National Security Council and the White House Chief of Staff.

Many parts of this new Executive Order apply to the U.S. government and to companies developing AI, but there are also significant parts of it that concern the protection of Americans' privacy.

For starters, President Biden has called on Congress to pass bipartisan data privacy legislation aimed at protecting all Americans, especially children, from the dangers posed by AI. As part of these measures, federal funds will be used to accelerate the development of privacy-preserving technologies such as AI systems that can learn while protecting the privacy of the learning data used to train the AI systems.

The Executive Order also calls for agencies to evaluate how they collect and use commercially available information (including information on Americans who purchase from data brokers). While this is a step in the right direction, I and many others would like to see U.S. government agencies stop purchasing location and other sensitive information from data brokers altogether.

Biden's Executive Order also addresses equity and civil rights to prevent AI from being used to discriminate against Americans. For example, landlords, federal benefit programs, and federal contractors will be provided guidance on how to prevent AI algorithms from being used to exacerbate discrimination. Similarly, best practices will be established for the use of AI in sentencing, parole, probation, surveillance, forensic analysis, etc.

The Executive Order also addresses the responsible use of AI in the health care and education systems.

Congress has been slow to act on AI. Instead, they are learning more about AI before U.S. lawmakers begin enacting new laws to regulate AI. However, President Biden is taking a more aggressive approach with his new Executive Order.

Even before signing this new Executive Order, the Biden administration has already begun work on an AI Bill of Rights. This bill contains five principles designed to guide the design, use, and deployment of automated systems to ensure that the rights of American citizens are protected in the age of AI.

Like all presidential decrees, it has "the force of law," according to government officials interviewed by CNBC. This means that the U.S. government can begin pursuing companies and organizations that misuse AI for their own benefit.

More will be revealed about the Biden administration's plans regarding AI, but this new Executive Order is an excellent first step toward ensuring that Americans' privacy and security are not put at risk as AI continues to advance.