Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act of 2023, Sec. 401 ("Emerging Technology")

• 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

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

• Unequal performance across groups

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

• Unfair discrimination and misrepresentation
• Overreliance and unsafe use
• Loss of human agency and autonomy
• Governance failure
• Lack of capability or robustness

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document has minimal coverage of risk domains, with primary focus on accessibility barriers (1.1, 1.3) and limited coverage of human-computer interaction issues (5.1, 5.2). The document addresses discrimination and unequal performance risks specifically in the context of disability access to emerging AI technologies.

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.

• Professional & Technical Services

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

The document primarily governs the Information sector (telecommunications, broadcasting, data processing) with good coverage. It also has minimal coverage of Professional and Technical Services through references to AI and advanced computing technologies.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding federal statute enacted by the United States Congress amending the Communications Act of 1934, with mandatory obligations on the Federal Communications Commission to report and issue regulations.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress
• Summary: The document is a section of an Act passed by the United States Congress, amending the Communications Act of 1934.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Developer, AI_Deployer
• Entities: providers of emerging communications and video programming technologies and services
• Summary: The document targets entities that develop and provide emerging communications and video programming technologies including AI, requiring them to ensure accessibility for individuals with disabilities.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Federal Communications Commission (the Commission); United States Access Board
• Summary: The Federal Communications Commission is explicitly designated to issue and update regulations ensuring accessibility, with consultation from the United States Access Board.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Federal Communications Commission (the Commission); United States Access Board; Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate; Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives
• Summary: The FCC is required to assess accessibility barriers and report to Congressional committees every 5 years, with consultation from the Access Board, establishing ongoing monitoring mechanisms.

AI Lifecycle Stages

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

• Plan and Design
• Verify and Validate
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document covers multiple AI lifecycle stages with primary focus on deployment and operation/monitoring. It addresses design considerations for accessibility, deployment of emerging AI technologies, and ongoing monitoring through mandatory 5-year assessments.

Technical Scope

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

• AI Systems

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly mentions AI systems and artificial intelligence as part of emerging communications technologies. It does not distinguish between frontier AI, general purpose AI, or task-specific AI, nor does it mention foundation models, generative AI, predictive AI, open-weight models, or compute thresholds.