U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo revealed on Friday that the Biden administration is considering a proposal that would require American cloud companies to ascertain whether foreign entities are accessing U.S. data centers for the purpose of training artificial intelligence (AI) models.
Raimondo emphasized the need to prevent unauthorized access to U.S. cloud infrastructure, particularly by non-state actors or entities like China. She highlighted the importance of export controls on chips, which are integral to American cloud data centers, to mitigate potential malicious activities.
Amid escalating security concerns surrounding the AI sector, the proposed regulation, dubbed the "know your customer" rule, aims to enhance oversight and prevent China from leveraging U.S. technology for AI development. This regulation, set for publication on Monday following a period of public inspection, is regarded as a significant step in bolstering national security measures.
Raimondo underscored the administration's efforts to curtail China's access to computing power crucial for AI model training, stressing the importance of preventing exploitation of U.S. cloud resources for this purpose.
The proposal mandates U.S. cloud computing companies to implement robust verification processes for foreign users and maintain compliance with minimum standards. This includes instituting "know-your-customer" programs and annual certification of compliance with these standards.
Additionally, Raimondo outlined the administration's plan to solicit survey responses from companies involved in AI development, as mandated by President Biden's executive order signed in October. Companies will be given 30 days to respond, with non-compliance viewed as a cause for concern.
Responding to these developments, Carl Szabo, general counsel at NetChoice, criticized the administration's approach, labeling Biden's executive order as "illegal" and expressing concerns that stringent reporting requirements for AI could hinder international collaboration.
Major cloud providers such as Amazon.com's AWS, Alphabet's Google Cloud, and Microsoft's Azure unit are among those potentially affected by these proposed regulations.
The Biden administration's proactive stance underscores the growing importance of AI security and the need to regulate the use of advanced technologies to safeguard national interests.
