William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, Division A, Title XC, Section 9004 ("Department of Homeland Security reports on digital content forgery technology")

• 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

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

• False or misleading information
• Disinformation, surveillance, and influence at scale
• Fraud, scams, and targeted manipulation

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

• Unfair discrimination and misrepresentation
• Exposure to toxic content
• AI system security vulnerabilities
• Pollution of information ecosystem
• Competitive dynamics
• Governance failure
• AI possessing dangerous capabilities
• Lack of transparency or interpretability

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document primarily addresses risks related to malicious actors (4.1, 4.2, 4.3) and misinformation (3.1, 3.2), with good coverage of digital content forgery technologies used for disinformation, fraud, and manipulation. It also addresses AI system security vulnerabilities (2.2) through countermeasure assessment, and governance failure (6.5) through reporting requirements to ensure oversight keeps pace with technology evolution.

Sector coverage

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

• National Security

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document does not govern specific economic sectors but rather requires the Department of Homeland Security to monitor and report on digital content forgery technology across all sectors. The reporting requirements assess how these technologies are used by foreign governments, non-governmental entities, and to harm various groups, but do not impose sector-specific regulations.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding federal statute enacted by the U.S. Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, with mandatory reporting requirements imposed on the Secretary of Homeland Security using legally binding language.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress
• Summary: The document is Section 9004 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which is federal legislation enacted by the U.S. Congress.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Secretary of Homeland Security; Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland Security; Director of National Intelligence
• Summary: The statute imposes mandatory reporting obligations on the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, with consultation requirements involving the Director of National Intelligence for specific subsections.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress
• Summary: Congress enforces compliance through its oversight authority, as the statute requires annual reports to be submitted to Congress, giving Congress the power to monitor compliance and take action if reports are not submitted.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress; Secretary of Homeland Security; Under Secretary for Science and Technology
• Summary: Congress monitors implementation through receipt of annual reports. The Secretary of Homeland Security and Under Secretary for Science and Technology monitor the state of digital content forgery technology and assess its evolution, uses, and countermeasures.

AI Lifecycle Stages

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

• Build and Use Model
• Verify and Validate
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document does not govern specific AI lifecycle stages but rather requires monitoring and reporting on digital content forgery technology across all stages. It focuses on assessment and analysis of existing and emerging technologies, their uses, countermeasures, and detection methods, which implicitly covers Build and Use Model, Deploy, and Operate and Monitor stages.

Technical Scope

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

• AI Models
• AI Systems
• Generative AI

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly mentions artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques as the technologies underlying digital content forgery. It focuses on AI systems capable of fabricating or manipulating audio, visual, or text content, which encompasses generative AI capabilities. The document does not mention specific AI model types, compute thresholds, or distinguish between general purpose and task-specific AI.