Court Denies Motion for Injunction, But EPIC’s Case Against AI Commission Moves Forward

A federal court denied a motion for a preliminary injunction against the National Commission on Artificial Intelligence. The Commission is chaired by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, dominated by representatives of large tech firms, and has operated in near total secrecy. EPIC filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to open the records and meetings of the AI Commission to the public. Today EPIC urged the court to issue a preliminary injunction to compel the production of records, an unusual motion in a FOIA case. The court denied the motion but agreed to consider whether the Commission is subject to FOIA on an expedited briefing schedule. The Commission is expected to release a report to the President and Congress on November 5, but to date the Commission has provided little information about its activities, meetings, or planned recommendations. The case is EPIC v. AI Commission, No. 19-2906 (D.D.C.).