William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, Division A, Title II, Section 218 ("Executive agent for autonomy")

• 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

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

This document has minimal risk domain coverage, focusing primarily on organizational structure for autonomous technology acquisition. It does not substantively address AI risks, harms, or safety measures. The only implicit connection is to competitive dynamics (6.4) through its focus on acquisition efficiency for autonomous military technology.

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 the Department of the Navy's acquisition of autonomous technology. It establishes internal organizational structure for military procurement and does not extend to civilian sectors.

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, using mandatory language ('shall designate') with a specific deadline, creating legally enforceable obligations on the Secretary of the Navy.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress
• Summary: The document is Section 218 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which is enacted by the United States Congress as the legislative authority.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Secretary of the Navy; Department of the Navy; program executive officer
• Summary: The statute directs the Secretary of the Navy to designate a program executive officer within the Department of the Navy to serve as the acquisition executive agent for autonomy, making the Department of the Navy and its officials the primary targets of this governance measure.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress
• Summary: As a statutory provision, enforcement authority rests with the U.S. Congress through its oversight powers, appropriations authority, and ability to hold hearings on compliance with the NDAA provisions.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress
• Summary: Congress monitors compliance with NDAA provisions through its oversight functions, including committee hearings, reports, and reviews of Department of Defense activities. The specific deadline creates a clear monitoring checkpoint.

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 focuses exclusively on the organizational structure for acquiring autonomous technology, without addressing specific lifecycle stages of AI development or deployment. It establishes an executive agent role but does not detail planning, data collection, model building, validation, deployment procedures, or operational monitoring 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 'autonomous technology' and 'autonomy' but does not define these terms or specify whether they refer to AI models, AI systems, or other forms of automation. No technical specifications, compute thresholds, or AI system categories are mentioned.