White House tech policy director stresses content authentication for government media

The White House is spearheading efforts to address the rising threat of deepfakes and AI-enabled scams, aiming to establish itself as a role model for content authentication.

At the Fortune Brainstorm AI conference, Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, highlighted initiatives outlined in President Biden’s recent Executive Order on AI, emphasising the development of guidance for content authentication and watermarking. While details on watermarking implementation are limited, Prabhakar asserted the US’s leadership in AI policy.

She stated that while global attention turns to the potential impact of AI legislation, with the EU recently releasing its own Artificial Intelligence Act, the Biden executive order is seen as laying the groundwork for future AI risk mitigation. Federal government efforts are being employed to protect privacy through cryptographic tools and evaluating privacy techniques AI-centric corporations use. However, concrete details about future federal AI legislation were not provided.

Why does it matter?

The United States’ focus on content authentication seems to resonate not only in other nations, such as South Korea but also in the initiatives of tech companies. However, with the recent approval of the EU AI Act and a lack of definite plans for future federal AI legislation in the United States, the European approach could potentially trigger a ‘Brussels effect’ in other jurisdictions. This might curtail the regulatory influence of the United States on this critical issue.