FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 26, 2024
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Office of Public Affairs, publicaffairs@doc.gov Department of Commerce Announces New Guidance, Tools 270 Days Following President Biden’s Executive Order on AI**For the first time, Commerce makes public new NIST draft guidance from U.S. AI Safety Institute to help AI developers evaluate and mitigate risks stemming from generative AI and dual-use foundation models.** Read the White House Fact sheet on Administration-wide actions on AI. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced today, on the 270-day mark since President Biden’s Executive Order (EO) on the Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Development of AI, the release of new guidance and software to help improve the safety, security and trustworthiness of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released three final guidance documents that were first released in April for public comment, as well as a draft guidance document from the U.S. AI Safety Institute that is intended to help mitigate risks. NIST is also releasing a software package designed to measure how adversarial attacks can degrade the performance of an AI system. In addition, Commerce’s U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a guidance update on patent subject matter eligibility to address innovation in critical and emerging technologies, including AI, “Under President Biden and Vice President Harris’ leadership, we at the Commerce Department have been working tirelessly to implement the historic Executive Order on AI and have made significant progress in the nine months since we were tasked with these critical responsibilities,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “AI is the defining technology of our generation, so we are running fast to keep pace and help ensure the safe development and deployment of AI. Today’s announcements demonstrate our commitment to giving AI developers, deployers, and users the tools they need to safely harness the potential of AI, while minimizing its associated risks. We’ve made great progress, but have a lot of work ahead. We will keep up the momentum to safeguard America’s role as the global leader in AI.” NIST’s document releases cover varied aspects of AI technology. Two were made public today for the first time. One is the initial public draft of a guidance document from the U.S. AI Safety Institute, and is intended to help AI developers evaluate and mitigate the risks stemming from generative AI and dual-use foundation models — AI systems that can be used for either beneficial or harmful purposes. The other is a testing platform designed to help AI system users and developers measure how certain types of attacks can degrade the performance of an AI system. Of the remaining three document releases, two are guidance documents designed to help manage the risks of generative AI — the technology that enables many chatbots as well as text-based image and video creation tools — and serve as companion resources to NIST’s AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF) and Secure Software Development Framework (SSDF). The third proposes a plan for U.S. stakeholders to work with others around the globe on AI standards. “For all its potentially transformational benefits, generative AI also brings risks that are significantly different from those we see with traditional software,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio. “These guidance documents and testing platform will inform software creators about these unique risks and help them develop ways to mitigate those risks while supporting innovation.” USPTO’s guidance update will assist USPTO personnel and stakeholders in determining subject matter eligibility under patent law (35 U.S.C. § 101) of AI inventions. This latest update builds on previous guidance by providing further clarity and consistency to how the USPTO and applicants should evaluate subject matter eligibility of claims in patent applications and patents involving inventions related to AI technology. The guidance update also announces three new examples of how to apply this guidance throughout a wide range of technologies. “The USPTO remains committed to fostering and protecting innovation in critical and emerging technologies, including AI,” said Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO. “We look forward to hearing public feedback on this guidance update, which will provide further clarity on evaluating subject matter eligibility of AI inventions while incentivizing innovations needed to solve world and community problems.” NTIA’s soon-to-be-published report will review the risks and benefits of dual-use foundation models whose model weights are widely available (i.e. “open-weight models”), as well as develop policy recommendations maximizing those benefits while mitigating the risks. Open-weight models allow developers to build upon and adapt previous work, broadening AI tools’ availability to small companies, researchers, nonprofits, and individuals. Additional information on today’s announcements from NIST can be found below. Protecting Against Misuse Risk from Dual-Use Foundation Models AI foundation models are powerful tools that are useful across a broad range of tasks and are sometimes called “dual-use” because of their potential for both benefit and harm. NIST’s U.S. AI Safety Institute has released the initial public draft of its guidelines on Managing Misuse Risk for Dual-Use Foundation Models, which outlines voluntary best practices for how foundation model developers can protect their systems from being misused to cause deliberate harm to individuals, public safety and national security. The draft guidance offers seven key approaches for mitigating the risks that models will be misused, along with recommendations for how to implement them and how to be transparent about their implementation. Together, these practices can help prevent models from enabling harm through activities like developing biological weapons, carrying out offensive cyber operations, and generating child sexual abuse material and non-consensual intimate imagery. The AI Safety Institute is accepting comments from the public on the draft Managing the Misuse Risk for Dual-Use Foundation Models until [DATE]. Comments can be submitted electronically to NISTAI800-1@nist.gov with “NIST AI 800-1, Managing Misuse Risk for Dual-Use Foundation Models” in the subject line. Testing how AI Models Respond to Attacks One of the vulnerabilities of an AI system is the model at its core. By exposing a model to large amounts of training data, it learns to make decisions. But if adversaries poison the training data with inaccuracies — for example, by introducing data that can cause the model to misidentify stop signs as speed limit signs — the model can make incorrect, potentially disastrous decisions. Testing the effects of adversarial attacks on machine learning models is one of the goals of Dioptra, a new software package aimed at helping AI developers and customers determine how well their AI software stands up to a variety of adversarial attacks. The open-source software, available for free download, could help the community including government agencies and small- to medium-sized businesses conduct evaluations to assess AI developers’ claims about their systems’ performance. This software responds to Executive Order section 4.1 (ii) (B), which requires NIST to help with model testing. Dioptra does this by allowing a user to determine what sorts of attacks would make the model perform less effectively and quantifying the performance reduction so that the user can learn how often and under what circumstances the system would fail. Managing the Risks of Generative AI The AI RMF Generative AI Profile (NIST AI 600-1) can help organizations identify unique risks posed by generative AI and proposes actions for generative AI risk management that best aligns with their goals and priorities. The guidance is intended to be a companion resource for users of NIST’s AI RMF. It centers on a list of 12 risks and just over 200 actions that developers can take to manage them. The 12 risks include a lowered barrier to entry for cybersecurity attacks, the production of mis- and disinformation or hate speech and other harmful content, and generative AI systems confabulating or “hallucinating” output. After describing each risk, the document presents a matrix of actions that developers can take to mitigate them, mapped to the AI RMF. Reducing Threats to the Data Used to Train AI Systems The second finalized publication, Secure Software Development Practices for Generative AI and Dual-Use Foundation Models (NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-218A), is designed to be used alongside the Secure Software Development Framework (SP 800-218). While the SSDF is broadly concerned with software coding practices, the companion resource expands the SSDF in part to address a major concern with generative AI systems: They can be compromised with malicious training data that adversely affect the AI system’s performance. In addition to covering aspects of the training and use of AI systems, this guidance document identifies potential risk factors and strategies to address them. Among other recommendations, it suggests analyzing training data for signs of poisoning, bias, homogeneity and tampering. Global Engagement on AI Standards AI systems are transforming society not only within the U.S., but around the world. A Plan for Global Engagement on AI Standards (NIST AI 100-5), today’s third finalized publication, is designed to drive the worldwide development and implementation of AI-related consensus standards, cooperation and coordination, and information sharing. The guidance is informed by priorities outlined in the NIST-developed Plan for Federal Engagement in AI Standards and Related Tools and is tied to the National Standards Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technology. This publication suggests that a broader range of multidisciplinary stakeholders from many countries participate in the standards development process.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 26, 2024
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Office of Public Affairs, publicaffairs@doc.gov Biden-Harris Administration Announces Preliminary Terms with Amkor Technology to Bring Cutting-Edge Advanced Packaging Technology to the U.S. for Leading-Edge SemiconductorsProposed CHIPS Investment Would Enable End-to-End Chip Production to Occur in the United States While Creating 2,000 Jobs in Arizona Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce and Amkor Technology, Inc. have signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) to provide up to $400 million in proposed direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act. President Biden signed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, a key component of his Investing in America agenda, to revitalize semiconductor manufacturing in America while strengthening our domestic supply chain, creating good-paying jobs, and supporting investments in the industries of the future. This proposed funding would support Amkor’s investment of approximately $2 billion and 2,000 jobs in a greenfield project in Peoria, Arizona, which will provide full end-to-end advanced packaging for the world’s most advanced semiconductors for applications in high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, communications, and automotive, end markets. With this proposed investment in Amkor, the largest U.S.-based outsourced semiconductor assembly and test company (OSAT), the Biden-Harris Administration would help strengthen resilience in key advanced packaging technologies, which will strengthen U.S. economic and national security by ensuring a reliable domestic advanced packaging ecosystem, supporting leading-edge clusters, and helping meet the growing demand for AI chips. Accordingly, companies such as TSMC, Apple, and GlobalFoundries—which power the world’s most advanced technologies—will be able to package and test their essential chips domestically, enabling the full end-to-end cycle of the chip manufacturing process to occur in the United States. As chip design approaches the technical limits of Moore’s Law, which posits that the number of transistors on a semiconductor doubles every two years, advanced packaging is widely believed to be the next frontier of innovation in the industry through its ability to drive enhanced power and performance. Consequently, as a result of proposed CHIPS funding, the U.S. will significantly expand domestic capacity for this critical piece of the semiconductor supply chain, further strengthening U.S. technology leadership. “One of the fundamental goals of the CHIPS and Science Act is creating an advanced packaging ecosystem in the U.S. to ensure full start to finish chip production occurs domestically. Advanced packaging drives chip innovation at all levels, and because of President Biden’s leadership, the U.S. will have a robust domestic footprint in this critical technology,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “The leading-edge chips that will be packaged right here in Arizona are foundational to technologies of the future that will define global economic and national security for decades to come. Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration, and Amkor’s investments in the U.S., this proposed funding would enhance our supply chain security, create thousands of jobs in Arizona, and further position the United States to out-innovate, out-build, and out-compete the rest of the world.” “This announcement marks another significant milestone for President Biden and Vice President Harris’s CHIPS & Science Act – dramatically expanding advanced packaging capabilities in the United States” said National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard. “Developing a comprehensive semiconductor ecosystem here in America, from R&D through packaging, will strengthen our technological leadership and create thousands of good paying jobs.” “The Biden-Harris Administration has committed to making the U.S. a world leader in advanced packaging, which is so critical to the future of the semiconductor industry because it allows us to pack more capability onto every chip,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and National Institute of Standards and Technology Director Laurie E. Locascio. “Investments in semiconductors will not succeed without investments in advanced packaging and with this proposed CHIPS funding, Amkor could play a crucial role in the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem.” “Amkor is proud to be the leading advanced packaging and test OSAT headquartered in the US, and today’s announcement underscores our commitment to grow America’s domestic semiconductor ecosystem,” said Giel Rutten, Amkor’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Amkor’s Arizona facility will enable us to support the growing semiconductor manufacturing community—while creating 2,000 good jobs—and we look forward to providing our customers with domestic advanced packaging and test capabilities. Advanced packaging is an essential component of semiconductor innovation and manufacturing, and we appreciate our partners at the Department of Commerce for recognizing the importance of this sector as they work to support our industry.” Developing an advanced packaging ecosystem is one of the four main pillars of CHIPS for America and is necessary to sustain U.S. global competitiveness and achieve supply chain security and resilience, and Amkor is regarded as one of the global leaders in advanced packaging technology. Amkor’s advanced packaging and test facility in Arizona is expected to utilize the most advanced technology such as 2.5D technology and other next generation technologies. The company’s 2.5D technology is foundational for AI and high-performance computing applications as it is the final step in the manufacturing of graphic processing units (“GPUs”) and other AI chips. A lack of 2.5D technology capacity has been a significant chokepoint in the semiconductor industry’s ability to meet the rapidly increasing demand for generative AI products and services. When fully operational, Amkor will package and test millions of leading-edge chips serving autonomous vehicles, 5G/6G smartphones, and large-scale datacenters across a range of customers. Amkor’s facility in Arizona will support approximately 2,000 jobs. As part of Amkor’s commitment to develop talent locally and across the U.S., they have partnered with Arizona State University, Grand Canyon University, Northern Arizona University, Maricopa Community College, Purdue University, Western Maricopa Education Center. These partnerships build upon the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America Workforce Hub in Phoenix to create pipelines to good jobs. The company has indicated that it plans to claim the Department of the Treasury’s Investment Tax Credit, which is expected to be up to 25% of qualified capital expenditures. In addition to the proposed direct funding of up to $400 million, the CHIPS Program Office would make approximately $200 million of proposed loans – which is part of the $75 billion in loan authority provided by the CHIPS and Science Act – available to Amkor under the PMT. As explained in its first Notice of Funding Opportunity, the Department may offer applicants a PMT on a non-binding basis after satisfactory completion of the merit review of a full application. The PMT outlines key terms for a potential CHIPS incentives award, including the amount and form of the award. The award amounts are subject to due diligence and negotiation of award documents and are conditional on the achievement of certain milestones. After the PMT is signed, the Department begins a comprehensive due diligence process on the proposed projects and continues negotiating or refining certain terms with the applicant. The terms contained in any final award documents may differ from the terms of the PMT being announced today. About CHIPS for America Two years after the passage of CHIPS and Science Act, the Biden-Harris Administration is moving full speed ahead – protecting our economic and national security and restoring American leadership in an industry that we started decades ago. By allocating over $30 billion to build factories domestically and investing billions more in research and innovation, we are unlocking over $300 billion in private investment and creating more than 100,000 jobs, including tens of thousands of good-paying jobs that don't require a college degree. Our efforts ensure the United States produces more of the world’s most advanced technologies – from AI to defense systems and everyday items like cars and medical devices. With a focus on expanding capacity, enhancing capabilities, maintaining competitiveness, and driving commercialization, CHIPS for America is driving our future, securing our supply chains, and cementing America’s place at the forefront of technology. Visit www.chips.gov to learn more.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 26, 2024
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Office of Public Affairs, publicaffairs@doc.gov Biden-Harris Administration, NOAA Propose $575 Million to Increase Coastal Climate Resilience Funding for 19 transformational projects to reach multiple states and territories under NOAA’s Climate-Ready Coasts initiative as part of Investing in America Agenda Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced today that the Department of Commerce and NOAA are recommending $575 million in funding across 19 projects to boost climate resilience in the nation’s coastal and Great Lakes states and territories. As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America Agenda, NOAA’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge is a competitive grant program, and awards are made under NOAA’s Climate-Ready Coasts and Communities Initiative and are funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in history. President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is driving more than $50 billion to build resilience to the effects of climate change in communities across the country. “As part of President Biden’s commitment to combatting the climate crisis, we are investing $575 million to help make sure America’s coastal communities are more resilient to the effects of climate change,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “This is a historic investment in our nation’s climate resilience, the largest in the history of the Commerce Department, and a key piece of the Biden-Harris Administrations’ ambitious climate agenda. Thanks to this Administration’s commitment to investing in America, we’re going to continue to help underserved communities across the country develop and implement new strategies to protect themselves from flooding, storm surge, and extreme weather events.” This competitive award program, administered by NOAA, was first announced in early 2023 and is one of the most popular Inflation Reduction Act programs. NOAA received nearly 870 letters of intent, requesting over $16 billion in funding, for the program. Of these, 120 applicants were selected to submit full proposals, which totaled more than $3 billion in combined requests. NOAA’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative which set a goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments go to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. “From sea level rise and storm surges to eroding infrastructure, coastal communities are on the frontlines of dealing with the worsening impacts of the climate crisis,” said National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi. “Under President Biden and Vice President Harris’s leadership, we are driving progress and innovation in climate resilience across the board, using every tool in our nation’s toolbox to fight climate change and safeguard communities. With the historic funding being announced today, paired with the administration’s newly released Climate Resilience Game Changers Assessment, we are working collaboratively with state, local, and tribal governments to build capacity, upgrade aging infrastructure, and protect our most vulnerable communities from climate impacts.” “Coastal communities are already on the front lines of experiencing the impacts of extreme weather fueled by the climate crisis,” said John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy. “These grants will better equip them to design locally-led projects to build a stronger and more resilient future in a warming world.” This funding opportunity was offered in two tracks. Planning and capacity building awards are focused on communities and regions that are either initiating or advancing existing collaborative efforts designed to improve coastal resilience. These make up 11 of the 19 projects that are recommended to receive funding, with the average award amount of $1.8 million. These projects would enable states and communities to: - Build and expand regional partnerships;
- Engage and partner with historically marginalized, overburdened communities, including tribes;
- Assess susceptibility to risks of climate change;
- Plan resilience strategies and adaptation actions; and
- Build community and workforce capacity for climate adaptation efforts.
Implementation awards encompass 8 transformational projects that are recommended for funding with amounts that range between $56 million and $75 million over five years. Total funding for these awards is approximately $555 million. These funds would be used by states and communities for: - Acquiring vulnerable land;
- Building natural infrastructure;
- Improving the resilience of public infrastructure;
- Strengthening and protecting public access to coastal natural resources;
- Building regional capacity for ongoing actions that increase resilience; and
- Updating state and local codes and policies.
“This unprecedented investment will be transformative for our nation's coasts following an extremely competitive award program,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “Equity and inclusion, community engagement, and regional coordination are critical elements of this funding and NOAA’s efforts to build Climate-Ready Coasts.” Additionally, NOAA is providing technical assistance to the award recipients to support successful implementation of their projects. The 19 projects recommended for funding are in the following locations: - Alaska: $78.9 million total
- $74.9 million - 1 implementation award
- $4 million - 2 planning awards
- California: $71.1 million - 1 implementation award
- Delaware, Maryland, Virginia: $1.97 million total - 1 planning Award
- Federated States of Micronesia: $2 million - 1 planning award
- Hawaii: $68.4 million -1 implementation award
- Louisiana: $59.8 million total
- $56.6 million - 1 implementation award
- $3.2 million - 2 planning awards
- Maine: $69 million - 1 implementation award
- Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin: $1.45 million total - 1 planning award
- Minnesota: $1.85 million - 1 planning award
- New Jersey: $72.5 million - 1 implementation award
- Ohio: $1.3 million - 1 planning award
- Rhode Island: $2 million - 1 planning award
- Washington: $75.6 million total
- $73.6 million - 1 implementation award
- $2 million - 1 planning award
- U.S. Virgin Islands: $69 million - 1 implementation award
NOAA’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge competitive grant program is focused on collaborative projects that increase the resilience of coastal communities to extreme weather and other climate change impacts, including sea level rise and drought and contributes to the vision laid out in the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Climate Resilience Framework. Additional information is available on the Climate Resilience Regional Challenge website.
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