Artificial Intelligence Accountability 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
• Increased inequality and decline in employment
• Lack of transparency or interpretability

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document has minimal coverage of risk domains, with brief mentions of cybersecurity risks (2.2) and implicit references to transparency/interpretability (7.4) through accountability measures. The focus is primarily on establishing study mechanisms rather than addressing specific AI risks directly.

Sector coverage

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

• Information

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

• Public Administration (excl. National Security)

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

The document primarily governs AI systems in the Information sector (telecommunications networks, social media platforms) and has implicit coverage of Public Administration through its focus on closing the digital divide and promoting digital inclusion. The scope is limited to these specific applications rather than broad sectoral coverage.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding legislative act from the United States Congress with mandatory language requiring specific actions by the Assistant Secretary of Commerce, including conducting studies, holding public meetings, and submitting reports to Congressional committees within specified timeframes.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress; Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America
• Summary: The document is enacted by the United States Congress, as stated in the opening clause, making Congress the proposer of this governance instrument.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Developer, AI_Deployer
• Entities: communications networks (including telecommunications networks and social media platforms); electromagnetic spectrum sharing applications
• Summary: The study focuses on AI systems used by communications networks and social media platforms, and electromagnetic spectrum sharing applications, making these the implicit targets of future accountability measures.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information; Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives; Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate
• Summary: The Assistant Secretary is mandated to conduct the study and hold meetings, with Congressional committees providing oversight through required reporting mechanisms.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives; Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate
• Summary: The Congressional committees receive reports and monitor implementation through the mandatory reporting requirements within 18 months of enactment.

AI Lifecycle Stages

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

• Verify and Validate
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document does not focus on specific AI lifecycle stages but rather on establishing accountability measures and information disclosure mechanisms that would apply across multiple stages. The emphasis is on post-deployment accountability through audits, assessments, and certifications, with implicit coverage of the Operate and Monitor stage.

Technical Scope

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

• AI Systems

Technical Scope Summary

The document uses the general term 'artificial intelligence systems' throughout without defining it or distinguishing between different types of AI. There is no mention of specific AI categories like frontier AI, general purpose AI, foundation models, or compute thresholds.