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President Biden has issued the first-ever National Security Memorandum (NSM) on AI, with the aim of speeding up the adoption of these new technologies throughout the US military and intelligence agencies.

The memorandum was signed and announced on Thursday (October 24) with it described in a statement as building on the key steps the President and Vice President have "taken to drive the safe, secure, and trustworthy development of AI..."

While ensuring the United States is harnessing AI technologies in the best way possible, the NSM has also been designed to galvanize federal government adoption of AI to advance the national security mission.

This includes ensuring that "such adoption reflects democratic values and protects human rights, civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy.

"In addition, the NSM seeks to shape international norms around AI use to reflect those same democratic values, and directs actions to track and counter adversary development and use of AI for national security purposes."

White House memorandum builds on previous guidance on AI

The memorandum places a lot of emphasis on the US leading the world's development of AI, with the manufacturing of semiconductors being highlighted.

"The NSM directs actions to improve the security and diversity of chip supply chains, and to ensure that, as the United States supports the development of the next generation of government supercomputers and other emerging technology, we do so with AI in mind."

It was in August of 2022 when President Biden signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act which focuses largely on semiconductor manufacturing. It was then that Micron, Qualcomm, and GlobalFoundries announced new investments in this space.

While the government wants to use AI to achieve national security objectives, they state this does not "simply demand that we use AI systems in service of the national security mission effectively; it also unequivocally states we must do so only in ways that align with democratic values."

The memorandum provides the first-ever guidance for AI government and risk management for use in national security missions, completing the previous guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget for non-national security missions.