AFP Foundation Launches FOIA Investigation of Biden Overreach on AI

Nov 14, 2023 by AFP

Arlington, Va. – Americans for Prosperity Foundation has filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking information about why the Biden Administration invoked emergency powers to regulate artificial intelligence. AI is here to stay. It is a reality, not an emergency.

Click here and here to view the FOIA requests.

On October 30, President Biden issued an Executive Order on the “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence”. The order includes miles of red tape and new far-reaching regulatory requirements for artificial intelligence. The order invokes the Defense Production Act in an unprecedented way that would radically expand executive powers over private industry. It appears to claim novel authority under the DPA to impose reporting requirements on AI developers, seemingly even if the developer does not have a contractual relationship with the government.

Too often, presidents exploit emergency powers to bypass Congress to implement preferred policy outcomes. AFP Foundation’s FOIA requests aim to bring transparency to the Biden administration’s actions on AI as part of the Emergency Powers Reform Project, which leverages the FOIA to help educate the public and lawmakers on ways emergency powers are abused.

AFP Foundation Investigative Analyst Thomas Kimbrell said:

“If AI is to be regulated, it is the responsibility of Congress to do so through legislation. The Biden Administration must not preempt legislative policy options with unlawful executive action. Treating AI as an emergency fabricates a never-ending crisis that transfers to the president major economic powers that are constitutionally reserved for Congress.”

AFP Senior Policy Analyst in Technology and Innovation James Czerniawski said:

“In calling for such a broad expansion of government barriers and oversight, the Biden Administration risks stifling innovation, slowing economic growth, and allowing China to further close the gap on U.S. leadership in AI.”

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