William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, Division A, Title I, Section 152 ("Transfer of responsibilities and functions relating to electromagnetic spectrum operations")

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: NDAA provisions;U.S. federal laws
• Most recent activity: Enacted
• Most recent activity date: 2021-01-01

Risk subdomain coverage

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

• AI possessing dangerous capabilities

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

This document has minimal coverage of AI risk domains, with only subdomain 7.2 (Dangerous Capabilities) receiving a coverage score of 2. The document primarily focuses on electromagnetic spectrum operations and military electronic warfare capabilities, with a brief mention of AI-assisted electronic warfare capabilities in the context of future program evaluation needs.

Sector coverage

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

• National Security

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document exclusively governs the National Security sector, specifically addressing electromagnetic spectrum operations within the U.S. Department of Defense and its military services and combatant commands. No other economic sectors are regulated or governed by this legislation.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding federal statute enacted by the United States Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, containing mandatory obligations with specific timelines and enforcement through Congressional oversight mechanisms.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress
• Summary: The document is Section 152 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which is federal legislation enacted by the United States Congress.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Secretary of Defense; Commander of the United States Strategic Command; Chief of Staff of the Army; Chief of Naval Operations; Chief of Staff of the Air Force; Commandant of the Marine Corps; Chief of Space Operations; Commander of the United States European Command; Commander of the United States Pacific Command; Commander of the United States Central Command; Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
• Summary: The document applies to and regulates the Department of Defense and its various military services and combatant commands, requiring them to transfer responsibilities, conduct evaluations, and develop plans related to electromagnetic spectrum operations.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives; United States Congress
• Summary: The document establishes Congressional oversight as the enforcement mechanism, requiring submission of plans and regular briefings to the Armed Services Committees, which have budgetary and legislative authority over the Department of Defense.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives; Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
• Summary: The document establishes monitoring through semiannual briefings to Congressional committees and requires annual evaluations by military services and combatant commands through 2025, with the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff responsible for briefing Congress on implementation.

AI Lifecycle Stages

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

• Plan and Design
• Verify and Validate

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document primarily addresses the Plan and Design stage through requirements for developing plans and evaluating future program needs. It also covers the Verify and Validate stage through mandated evaluations of current and future capabilities. The document does not substantially address data collection, model building, deployment, or operational monitoring of AI systems specifically.

Technical Scope

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

• Task-specific AI

Technical Scope Summary

The document makes a single brief reference to 'machine learning-or artificial intelligence-assisted electronic warfare capabilities' in the context of evaluating future program needs. It does not define AI models, AI systems, or any specific AI categories, nor does it mention compute thresholds or model types. The reference is minimal and focused on military electronic warfare applications.