On Tuesday, news broke that the White House will not publicly release their anticipated federal AI framework, opting instead to share the regulatory framework confidentially with a small set of AI companies. The decision, which follows shortly on the heels of AI cyber incidents at OpenAI and Anthropic, deepens a serious gap in federal oversight, leaving open questions about how the federal government plans to evaluate the safety and security of advanced AI models and what standards AI companies are held to at a moment of rapidly advancing AI risks.
“A rulebook can only hold AI companies in check if people outside those companies know what the rules are,” said ARI President Brad Carson. “At a time when the capabilities of frontier AI models are outpacing guardrails, the White House is making a dangerous mistake by keeping their federal AI framework secret. When we regulate banks, it’s critical that auditors outside those banks understand how violations are being defined and that consumers know the institutions keeping their savings are held to strong standards. Those same principles apply when it comes to AI. Lawmakers in Congress, independent experts, and the public all have a major stake in ensuring that AI is developed responsibly and transparently. The Administration’s decision to keep their framework secret shuts those voices out and threatens public accountability, which underpins our democratic institutions.”
Last week, following news of OpenAI’s security breach involving Hugging Face, Americans for Responsible Innovation and a coalition of AI policy, safety, and research leaders sent a letter to the Trump Administration urging them to open an independent investigation. The coalition also urged the White House to use the investigation’s findings to build on the Administration’s June 2 executive order with a clear rules-based process for assessing the risks posed by advanced AI systems.
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