Civilian Agency AI Watermark 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.

• AI system security vulnerabilities
• Fraud, scams, and targeted manipulation
• Lack of transparency or interpretability

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

This document has minimal risk domain coverage, primarily touching on AI system security (2.2) through watermarking for authentication purposes. The focus is on establishing a watermark system for federal AI applications rather than comprehensively addressing AI risks.

Sector coverage

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

• Public Administration (excl. National Security)

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

• Scientific Research & Development Services

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document primarily governs Public Administration (excluding National Security) by establishing requirements for federal civilian agencies to implement an AI watermark system. It does not regulate private sector activities or specific industries.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a Congressional Act with binding legal obligations, mandatory language ('shall'), and authorization of appropriations for enforcement.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress
• Summary: The document is an Act of Congress, as indicated by the legislative format and structure. Congress is the proposing authority for this federal legislation.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Secretary of Homeland Security; Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology; Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office; Federal civilian agencies
• Summary: The Act targets federal government entities, specifically requiring the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop a watermark system for civilian agency AI applications in consultation with NIST and USPTO.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Secretary of Homeland Security
• Summary: The Secretary of Homeland Security is designated as the primary authority responsible for implementing and overseeing the watermark system, with appropriations authorized for this purpose.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Secretary of Homeland Security
• Summary: While not explicitly stated, the Secretary of Homeland Security would be responsible for monitoring the implementation and effectiveness of the watermark system as the designated implementing authority.

AI Lifecycle Stages

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

• Verify and Validate
• Deploy

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document focuses primarily on the Deploy stage by establishing a watermark system to identify approved AI applications for civilian agency use. It implicitly touches on Verify and Validate through the approval process, but does not substantially address earlier lifecycle stages.

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 refers to 'artificial intelligence applications' for civilian agency use but does not define or distinguish between AI models, AI systems, or specific types of AI. No compute thresholds or technical specifications are mentioned.