James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, Section 212 ("Clarification of role of senior official with principal responsibility for artificial intelligence and machine learning")

• 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: 2022-12-23

Risk subdomain coverage

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

This document is a technical administrative amendment that updates references to organizational titles and structures within the Department of Defense's AI governance framework. It does not address AI risks or harms as defined in the MIT taxonomy. The document focuses solely on renaming the 'Joint Artificial Intelligence Center' and its 'Director' to references to 'the official designated under section 238(b)' and their office. No risk mitigation measures, safety concerns, or harm prevention mechanisms are discussed.

Sector coverage

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

• National Security

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

• Scientific Research & Development Services

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document exclusively governs AI activities within the National Security sector, specifically within the Department of Defense. It updates organizational structures and responsibilities for AI and machine learning activities across DoD entities including military departments and defense agencies.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, enacted by the United States Congress. As federal legislation codified in the United States Code, it creates binding legal obligations with mandatory language throughout.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: This section is part of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, which is federal legislation enacted by the United States Congress.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: The amendments apply to various Department of Defense entities and officials with responsibilities for artificial intelligence and machine learning activities, requiring them to update organizational references and comply with modified statutory provisions.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: The Secretary of Defense is responsible for implementing the statutory amendments and providing briefings to congressional defense committees, which exercise oversight authority.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: Congressional defense committees receive mandatory briefings and reports on implementation. The Board of Advisors provides oversight for the senior AI official's office, with its authorization extended to September 30, 2026.

AI Lifecycle Stages

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

• Collect and Process Data
• Build and Use Model
• Verify and Validate
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document does not substantively address specific AI lifecycle stages. It is a technical administrative amendment that updates organizational titles and references within existing Department of Defense AI governance structures. While it references activities across multiple lifecycle stages (data repositories, development, procurement, testing), it does not establish new governance measures for these stages but merely updates which official is responsible for existing activities.

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 explicitly mentions artificial intelligence and machine learning throughout, referencing AI software, technology, and capabilities. It does not define or distinguish between AI models, AI systems, or specific types of AI (frontier, general purpose, task-specific, etc.). No compute thresholds or technical specifications are mentioned. The focus is on organizational structure rather than technical AI characteristics.