EPIC Urges the OSTP to Focus on AI Protections, Not Deregulation

This week, EPIC submitted a comment responding to the Office of Science and Technology Policy’s (OSTP) Request for Information, calling on the OSTP to withdraw its inquiry and refocus on its mission of protecting the American people from technology harms. The initial request asked participants to identify existing regulations, guidance, and other documentation that “hinder the development, deployment, and adoption of artificial intelligence.” This phrasing indicates that the OSTP is examining how to smooth the way for accelerated AI development and integration within the U.S. rather than how the technology is harming people.

EPIC counters that this framing ignores existing, severe AI harms, the damage to vulnerable groups, and the instability that deregulation would introduce. AI has produced opaque, inaccurate, and biased outputs in critical areas, including housing, employment, education, healthcare, government benefits, and criminal justice. These decisions have real-world consequences on people’s lives and we have not yet seen a meaningful option for redress. Worse, these harms disproportionately affect vulnerable groups, like children, the elderly, and lower-income individuals. To accelerate AI development and adoption before these problems are addressed is irresponsible.

Finally, deregulation creates instability for both the AI marketplace and the American people. Removing existing regulations effectively penalizes any AI company that worked to adhere to those requirements, rewarding those who have built recklessly and in violation of existing law. Targeting the few regulations we currently have to govern AI communicates to the American people that their rights and safety are secondary to business interests.

The language of this Request for Information is deeply concerning and reflects an agency stance toward AI that will only become more harmful if not redirected. EPIC urges the OSTP to withdraw this request and focus on AI actions that advance the public interest, not AI companies’ bottom line.