William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, Division A, Title XCIV, Section 9414 ("Study on Chinese policies and influence in the development of international standards for emerging technologies")

• 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.

• Competitive dynamics
• Governance failure

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

This document has minimal direct coverage of AI risks. It primarily addresses competitive dynamics (6.4) through its focus on international standards competition with China. There is implicit minimal coverage of governance failure (6.5) through discussion of standards-setting processes. The document does not directly address specific AI harms or safety risks, but rather focuses on geopolitical competition in standards development.

Sector coverage

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

• Agriculture, Mining, Construction & Manufacturing
• Information
• Scientific Research & Development Services
• National Security

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document does not directly govern AI use in specific economic sectors. Instead, it mandates a study on international standards development for emerging technologies. The study will examine standards-setting processes that may affect multiple sectors, particularly those involving advanced communication technologies, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and quantum information science.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding statutory provision enacted by the U.S. Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. It uses mandatory language ('shall enter into an agreement') and creates legally enforceable obligations on the Director of NIST.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress
• Summary: This section is part of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which was enacted by the U.S. Congress. Congress is the legislative body that proposed and enacted this provision.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); an appropriate entity with relevant expertise
• Summary: The provision directs the Director of NIST to enter into an agreement with an entity to conduct the study. NIST is the primary target of the directive, and the entity conducting the study is a secondary target.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Committee on Science, Space, and Technology; Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate
• Summary: The Congressional committees listed are the oversight bodies that will receive the report and monitor compliance with the statutory requirement. Congress has general enforcement authority over federal agencies through its oversight powers.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Committee on Science, Space, and Technology; Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; General public (through public website)
• Summary: The same Congressional committees that enforce compliance also monitor implementation through the reporting requirement. Additionally, the public can monitor through the publicly accessible website requirement.

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

This document does not directly govern specific AI lifecycle stages. Instead, it mandates a study on international standards development for emerging technologies including AI. The focus is on standards-setting processes rather than the technical development or deployment of AI systems themselves.

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 and quantum information science as examples of critical emerging technologies in the context of international standards development. It does not define AI models, systems, or specific AI categories, nor does it establish compute thresholds or distinguish between different types of AI.