Exploring AI Governance: Short Reports on Key Issues

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What Is the Issue?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is at the heart of current social, legal and ethical issues that governments, legislators, regulators, and the wider civil society are grappling with. At present, there are several notable efforts globally to determine the most effective ways to govern AI, although the structure and purpose of this oversight shows considerable variation across different jurisdictions. The European Union (EU) and the U.S. are two such prominent jurisdictions.

The EU's AI Act is a landmark piece of legislation that lays out, for the first time, a detailed and wide-ranging framework for the comprehensive regulation of AI deployment in the EU covering the development, testing and usage of AI. Although the U.S. has not yet instituted any comprehensive federal legislation on AI, the White House took a significant step towards establishing a governance regime for AI development and use in the U.S. by issuing an Executive Order in October 2023.

Given the substantial economic and geopolitical influence of the EU and the U.S., any regulatory progress in these regions will significantly impact the global trajectory of AI. This, in turn, will have far-reaching effects on the broader societal, legal and ethical consequences linked with the technology’s adoption.

What Did We Find?

Our findings underline the importance of examining the EU AI Act further, particularly its potential implications for the U.S. Our research also highlights the need for deepening collaboration between the U.S. and the EU in the realm of AI governance, learning from each other’s unique experiences as the EU puts the EU AI Act into action.

Given that both regions share the common objectives of enhancing AI safety, security and trustworthiness, this collaboration is crucial. In the face of a complex and multifaceted global AI ecosystem with various regulatory frameworks, fostering transatlantic and indeed broader international cooperation on AI governance could be mutually beneficial for both Washington and Brussels.

Reports

How Did We Help?

Through a rapid review of recent literature, this study has developed a set of briefing papers on significant AI governance issues. These issues are not only the subject of discussions on Capitol Hill but are also, to various extents, encompassed by the EU AI Act.

Examining these issues can yield further insights and enhance our conceptual understanding of the matters at stake, and present U.S. legislators and policymakers with potential learnings from the EU AI Act. Moreover, the implications of the EU AI Act will extend far beyond Europe’s borders.

The EU AI Act entered into force on August 1, 2024, which means that companies from non-EU countries and multinational corporations, many of these based in the U.S., will need to align with the EU AI Act’s provisions to operate within the EU market. Furthermore, the EU’s regulatory approach to AI could influence international standards and practices.

We anticipate that these papers will be especially relevant to the staff of U.S. legislators with an interest in AI governance and legislation. More broadly, the research outlined in the various briefs should appeal to a diverse array of stakeholders. This includes regulators, policymakers, individuals in industry and academia, and anyone with a broader interest in the implementation and governance of AI.

The briefing papers are crafted to be succinct, providing a snapshot of a variety of interconnected subjects that are central to AI governance discussions in the U.S., the EU, and globally. Each paper does not aim to provide a comprehensive analysis, and the collection does not encompass an exhaustive range of topics. Instead, the analysis is intended to spark dialogue among stakeholders on specific facets of AI governance, especially as AI applications proliferate worldwide and complex governance debates persist.

While we refrain from offering definitive recommendations, we explore a set of priority options in each paper that the U.S. could potentially consider in relation to different aspects of AI governance, in light of the EU AI Act.