EPIC Signs Coalition Letter Calling on OMB to Preserve Key Safeguards for AI in Federal Government

EPIC joined a coalition of over a dozen civil society organizations in a letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to call for the preservation of crucial transparency and safety protections for AI use cases in the federal government as the OMB implements President Trump’s Executive Order 14179, “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.” 

The coalition identifies the AI use case inventory requirement and the related transparency provisions, along with the minimum risk management practices for rights- and safety-impacting AI use cases as two key provisions for the OMB to preserve. The coalition urges the OMB to maintain these sets of provisions for three reasons: 1) AI is already widespread in American life and in the U.S. government, and transparency is essential for curbing abuses of free speech, civil liberties, and civil rights; 2) the provisions are undergirded by existing federal law, including the Advancing American AI Act and the AI in Government Act; and 3) the provisions follow the principles established by President Trump’s Executive Order 13960 under his first term, which directed federal agencies to use AI “in a manner that fosters public trust and confidence while protecting privacy, civil rights, civil liberties, and American values.” 

EPIC previously submitted comments to the OMB to strengthen requirements on federal agencies’ use of AI and analyzed the federal agencies’ compliance plans with M-24-10 requirements. EPIC regularly advocates for robust transparency, accountability, and rights-protective requirements on the federal government’s uses of AI.