U.S. President Donald Trump’s Decision on AI Rules Sparks Concern
The Consumer Federation of America and Mozilla have written a letter to the White House expressing concern over President Trump’s recent decision to revoke former President Biden’s 2023 executive order on AI. The executive order required developers of large-scale AI systems to share safety test results with the U.S. government before releasing the technology to the public.
The letter, addressed to officials including David Sacks, the White House’s AI and crypto czar, and Mike Waltz, the new national security advisor, warns that revoking the order could lead to the release of untested AI systems that could harm consumers. The signers of the letter, which included the Center for Digital Democracy and the National Consumer Law Center, noted that the former executive order mandated that AI systems be tested and disclosed before being used on consumers.
The letter also highlighted the potential consequences of releasing untested AI systems, including the potential for seniors, veterans, and consumers to have their benefits altered and their health endangered. The organizations argued that the proposed rules set by the former executive order were not high enough and that it was the least that seniors, veterans, and everyday consumers deserved.
The organizations also noted that AI has long been controversial due to its potential to exacerbate existing social issues, such as wrongful arrests and racial disparities in mortgage underwriting. They emphasized that the former executive order’s safety rules applied to large enterprises that built AI systems impacting “large numbers of people, often at their most vulnerable.”
The letter concludes by stating that the issues at play are about basic principles of safety engineering and the importance of responsible adoption of every technology that has impacted millions of people.
