EPIC to Court: AI Commission Must Comply With FOIA

EPIC told a federal court this week that the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence must comply with the Freedom of Information Act. Created by Congress in 2018, the AI Commission is tasked with considering "the methods and means necessary to advance the development of” AI in a national security setting. But the Commission has operated largely in secret and claims that it is exempt from open government laws. The Commission has received almost 200 closed-door briefings, with no published agendas and no public minutes. EPIC, which filed suit against the Commission in September, explained that Congress left “no doubt that the AI Commission is subject to the FOIA.” The Commission recently released a report to Congress, which criticized the EU General Data Protection Regulation and called for greater "government access to data on Americans." EPIC’s case is EPIC v. AI Commission, No. 19-2906 (D.D.C.).