AWARE Act of 2024

Bill: 118-s-5239
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT]
Introduced: 2024-09-25
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Latest action: action_date: 2024-09-25
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

Summaries:

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 5239 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES September 25, 2024 Mr. Welch introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To require the Secretary of Defense to manage risks relating to military use of artificial intelligence, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Artificial Intelligence Weapon Accountability and Risk Evaluation Act of 2024 or the AWARE Act of 2024 . 2. Managing risks relating to military use of artificial intelligence (a) Ledger of use and deployment (1) In general Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act the Secretary of Defense shall commence creating, and not later than three years after the date of the enactment of this Act the Secretary shall complete creating, a ledger of all uses by the Department of Defense of covered systems. (2) Requirements The Secretary shall ensure that the ledger created pursuant to paragraph (1)— (A) is a structured, indexed database; and (B) maintained and updated on a regular basis to ensure that the ledger is accurate. (b) Risk assessment process (1) In general Not later than three years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a risk assessment process that holistically evaluates each unique implementation by the Department of a covered system included in the ledger required by subsection (a). (2) Elements (A) In general The process required by paragraph (1) shall, at a minimum, cover matters relating to the following: (i) Dependability. (ii) Cybersecurity. (iii) Privacy. (iv) Bias. (v) Bias towards escalation. (vi) Deployment span. (vii) Risk of civilian harm. (B) Bias towards escalation For purposes of subparagraph (A)(v), the process shall cover the intent of the system and assess for any bias relating to whether the technology ever escalates or deescalates conflict situations. (C) Deployment span For purposes of subparagraph (A)(vi), the process shall address changes in risk levels based on whether covered systems are deployed singularly or in clusters or swarms. (3) Annual assessments The Secretary shall ensure that the process required by paragraph (1) requires reevaluation of each covered system included in the ledger required by subsection (a)— (A) not less frequently than annually; and (B) whenever— (i) the underlying foundation artificial intelligence model receives an update; (ii) the Department procures any covered system that has not previously been evaluated by the process; and (iii) a new weapons review of a covered system is conducted by the Department. (c) Annotations regarding exports The Secretary shall annotate in the ledger required by subsection (a) when— (1) a covered system developed or owned by the Department is shared with a foreign country, exported to a foreign country, or used by any foreign person or government; and (2) such sharing, exporting, or use presents additional risk covered by the risk assessment process required by subsection (b). (d) Progress reports to Congress Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act and not less frequently once each year thereafter until the date that is three years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the progress of the Secretary in carrying out this Act. (e) Annual submissions to Congress (1) In general Not later than three years after the date of the enactment of this Act and not less frequently than once each year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress an annual submission that includes the following: (A) The ledger required by subsection (a). (B) An annual report on the findings of the Secretary with respect to the risk assessments conducted, in the year covered by the annual submission, pursuant to the risk assessment process established under subsection (b). (C) The annotations made under subsection (c) during the year covered by the annual submission. (2) Form Each submission under paragraph (1) shall be, to the fullest extent possible, in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex to the degree the Secretary considers necessary. (3) Public availability The Secretary shall make available to the public the unclassified portion of each annual submission under paragraph (1). (f) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the ledger created pursuant to subsection (a)(1) will reflect strong and continuing commitment of the Department of Defense to being a transparent global leader in establishing responsible policies regarding military uses of artificial intelligence-enabled weapons, targeting, and decision support systems. (g) Rule of construction Nothing in this section shall be construed to reduce any existing privacy, safety, or security protections or guardrails in effect before the date of the enactment of this Act. (h) Definitions In this section: (1) The term artificial intelligence has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 ( 15 U.S.C. 9401 ). (2) The term covered system includes the following systems that are enabled by artificial intelligence: (A) A weapon system. (B) A targeting system. (C) A decision support system that aids a system described in subparagraph (A) or (B).