US AI Commission Continues Secret Meetings

On July 11, 2019, the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence held its third meeting behind closed doors. Created by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, the AI Commission is tasked with considering "the methods and means necessary to advance the development of" AI to address the national security and defense needs of the U.S. Representatives of large tech firms, including Google and Microsoft, dominate the Commission. Like its first meeting in March, the AI Commission provided no notice of the meeting and no opportunity for public participation. According to reports, the AI Commission received briefings on AI research, national security uses of AI, and preparing the workforce for AI. The AI Commission's mandate specifies that comprehensive reports be made available to the public. EPIC previously filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking a copy of the AI Commission report, which has still not been released to the public.