New US Commerce Department Report Backs ‘Open’ AI Models

The U.S. Commerce Department released a report Monday supporting “open” generative AI models like Meta’s Llama 3.1, but recommended the government develop “new capabilities” to monitor such models for potential threats.

The report, authored by the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), finds that open-source models are making generative AI more accessible to small businesses, researchers, nonprofits, and individual developers. For these reasons, the government should not impose restrictions on access to open models, it suggests—at least not before examining whether the restrictions could harm the market.

This view echoes recent comments by FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan, who believes that open models can allow more, smaller players to bring their ideas to market and thus promote healthy competition.

“The openness of the largest and most powerful AI systems will impact competition, innovation, and the risks associated with these revolutionary tools,” Alan Davidson, assistant secretary of Commerce for communications and information and NTIA administrator, said in a statement. “The NTIA report recognizes the importance of open AI systems and calls for more active monitoring of the risks resulting from the wide availability of model weights for the largest AI models. Government plays a critical role in supporting AI development while building capacity to understand and address new risks.”

The report comes as domestic and international regulators consider rules that could restrict or impose new requirements on companies seeking to introduce open-design models to the market.

California is close to passing SB 1047, a bill that would require any company training a model using more than 10²⁶ The computing power FLOP needs to bolster its cybersecurity and develop a way to “switch off” the copies of the model it controls. Abroad, the EU recently finalized compliance deadlines for companies under the AI ​​Act, which imposes new rules on copyright, transparency and AI applications.

Meta has said the EU’s AI policies will prevent it from releasing some open models in the future. And a number of startups and big tech companies have come out against the California law, which they say is too burdensome.

NTIA’s management philosophy is not entirely laissez-faire.

In its report, the NTIA calls on the government to develop a continuing program to gather evidence on the risks and benefits of open models, evaluate that evidence, and act on that assessment, including imposing some restrictions on the availability of models where warranted. Specifically, the report proposes that the government examine the safety of different AI models, support research into risk mitigation, and develop thresholds for “risk-specific” metrics to signal whether a change in policy may be necessary.

These and other steps would be consistent with President Joe Biden’s executive order on AI, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo noted. The order called on government agencies and companies to set new standards for how AI is created, deployed and used.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is pulling every lever to maximize the promise of AI while minimizing its risks,” Raimondo said in a press release. “Today’s report provides a roadmap for responsible AI innovation and American leadership by embracing openness and recommending how the U.S. government can prepare and adapt to potential challenges.”