PATHS Act

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. federal laws
• Most recent activity: Defunct
• Most recent activity date: 2025-01-03

Risk subdomain coverage

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• Competitive dynamics

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

This document has minimal risk domain coverage, with only subdomain 6.4 (Competitive dynamics) receiving a coverage score above 1. The document primarily focuses on procedural and administrative aspects of AI-related contracting authority rather than addressing specific AI risks or harms.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Public Administration (excl. National Security)
• National Security

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document primarily governs the Public Administration sector (excluding National Security) and the National Security sector, as it regulates the Department of Homeland Security's contracting authority for AI technology acquisition. The legislation does not govern AI use within private sector industries but rather governs government procurement processes.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding federal statute enacted by the U.S. Congress that amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002, establishing mandatory legal obligations with specific compliance requirements and congressional oversight mechanisms.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress; Senate; House of Representatives
• Summary: The document is a federal statute enacted by the U.S. Congress, as evidenced by the enacting clause and passage notation. The House of Representatives passed this legislation on September 23, 2024.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Secretary of Homeland Security; Department of Homeland Security
• Summary: The Act targets the Secretary of Homeland Security by imposing notification and briefing requirements when using AI-related transaction authority, and by extending and modifying the Secretary's contracting authority under the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives
• Summary: Congressional committees are designated as the enforcement bodies through their oversight role, receiving mandatory notifications and briefings within 72 hours of AI-related transaction authority use. These committees have appropriations and oversight authority over the Department of Homeland Security.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives
• Summary: The same congressional committees that enforce also monitor implementation through the mandatory notification and briefing mechanism, which provides them with information about each use of AI-related transaction authority within 72 hours.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

No lifecycle stages identified.

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document does not explicitly address specific AI lifecycle stages. It focuses on procurement and contracting authority for AI technology rather than the development, deployment, or operational aspects of AI systems. The legislation governs the acquisition process for AI-related technologies but does not detail requirements for how those technologies should be designed, built, validated, deployed, or monitored.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

No technical scope terms identified.

Technical Scope Summary

The document mentions 'artificial intelligence technology' in the context of contracting authority but does not provide definitions or distinguish between different types of AI systems, models, or capabilities. There is no mention of compute thresholds, model types, or technical specifications.