Generative AI Terrorism Risk Assessment Act in plain language
1: Short title
This section would give the Act the short title "Generative AI Terrorism Risk Assessment Act."
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1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Generative AI Terrorism Risk Assessment Act .
2: Sense of Congress regarding the use of generative artificial intelligence applications for terrorist activity
This section would state that it is the sense of Congress that the heightened terrorism threat landscape and the growing use of generative artificial intelligence applications by terrorist organizations represent a national security threat that is not well understood, and that the Department of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, must take steps to recognize, assess, and address that threat so as to reduce risks to the people of the United States.
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2. Sense of Congress regarding the use of generative artificial intelligence applications for terrorist activity It is the sense of Congress that— (1) the heightened terrorism threat landscape and the increasing utilization of generative artificial intelligence applications by terrorist organizations represent a national security threat, and the challenges posed by such threat are not well understood; and (2) the Department of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, must take steps to recognize, assess, and address such threat, thereby reducing risks to the people of the United States.
3: Annual assessments on terrorism threats to the United States posed by terrorist organizations utilizing generative artificial intelligence applications
This section would require the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, to submit an assessment of terrorism threats to the United States posed by terrorist organizations using generative artificial intelligence applications to specified congressional committees, no later than 180 days after the Act becomes law and then once a year for five years after that. Each assessment would have to include an analysis of incidents during the immediately preceding calendar year in which terrorist organizations used or attempted to use generative AI applications to spread violent extremist messaging and to radicalize or recruit people to violence, and to enhance their ability to develop or deploy chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons, plus recommendations on measures to counter these threats. Before release outside the Department, each assessment would have to be coordinated with the Department's Office of the General Counsel, Privacy Office, and Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties to make sure it complies with applicable law and protects individuals' privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties, and it could be informed by existing products as appropriate. Each assessment would have to be submitted in unclassified form, though it could include a classified annex limited to protecting intelligence sources and methods, and the Secretary would have to post the unclassified portion on a public Department of Homeland Security website. Within 30 days after submitting each assessment, the Secretary would have to brief the same congressional committees on it, and the head of any other relevant federal department or agency would have to join that briefing if a committee, in consultation with the Secretary, decides that is appropriate. The committees covered by this section are the House Committee on Homeland Security, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, together with the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Separately, the Secretary would have to review information about these terrorism threats gathered by State and local fusion centers and the National Network of Fusion Centers, incorporate it into the Department's own information on the subject as appropriate, and make sure that information is shared back out to those fusion centers and the network. Finally, the section would define generative artificial intelligence applications as the class of artificial intelligence models that emulate the structure and characteristics of input data to generate derived synthetic content such as images, videos, audio, text, and other digital content; it would define terrorist organization to mean either an entity designated as a foreign terrorist organization under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act or any entity engaged in terrorism as defined in section 2(18) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002; it would define National Network of Fusion Centers as a decentralized arrangement of fusion centers meant to let individual State and local fusion centers draw on each other's capabilities and expertise to strengthen analysis and homeland security information sharing nationally; and it would use the existing definition of fusion center found in section 210A of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.
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3. Annual assessments on terrorism threats to the United States posed by terrorist organizations utilizing generative artificial intelligence applications (a) Assessments (1) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter for five years, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees an assessment of terrorism threats to the United States posed by terrorist organizations utilizing generative artificial intelligence applications. (2) Contents Each terrorism threat assessment under paragraph (1) shall include the following: (A) An analysis of incidents during the immediately preceding calendar year in which terrorist organizations have utilized or attempted to utilize generative artificial intelligence applications to carry out the following: (i) Spread violent extremist messaging and facilitate the ability to radicalize and recruit individuals to violence. (ii) Enhance their ability to develop or deploy chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons. (B) Recommendations on appropriate measures to counter terrorism threats to the United States posed by such terrorist organizations. (3) Coordination Each terrorism threat assessment under paragraph (1)— (A) shall be coordinated with the Office of the General Counsel, the Privacy Office, and the Office of for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the Department of Homeland Security prior to release outside the Department to ensure each such assessment complies with applicable law and protects individuals’ privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties, and (B) may be informed by existing products, as appropriate. (4) Form Each terrorism threat assessment under paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex only for the protection of intelligence sources and methods relating to the matters contained in such assessment. The Secretary of Homeland Security shall post on a publicly available website of the Department of Homeland Security the unclassified portion of each such assessment. (5) Briefing Not later than 30 days after the submission of each terrorism threat assessment under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall brief the appropriate congressional committees regarding each such assessment. The head of any other relevant Federal department or agency shall join the Secretary for any such briefing if any such committee, in consultation with the Secretary, determines such is appropriate. (6) Appropriate congressional committees In this subsection, the term appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on Homeland Security, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. (b) Information sharing The Secretary of Homeland Security shall review information relating to terrorism threats to the United States posed by terrorist organizations utilizing generative artificial intelligence applications that is gathered by State and local fusion centers and the National Network of Fusion Centers, and incorporate such information, as appropriate, into the Department of Homeland Security’s own information relating to such. The Secretary shall ensure the dissemination to State and local fusion centers and the National Network of Fusion Centers of such information. (c) Definitions In this section: (1) Generative artificial intelligence applications The term generative artificial intelligence applications means the class of artificial intelligence models that emulate the structure and characteristics of input data in order to generate derived synthetic content, including images, videos, audio, text, and other digital content. (2) Fusion center The term fusion center has the meaning given such term in subsection (k) of section 210A of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( 6 U.S.C. 124h ). (3) National Network of Fusion Centers The term National Network of Fusion Centers means a decentralized arrangement of fusion centers intended to enhance the ability of individual State and local fusion centers to leverage the capabilities and expertise of all such fusion centers for the purpose of enhancing analysis and homeland security information sharing nationally. (4) Terrorist organization The term terrorist organization means— (A) any entity designated as a foreign terrorist organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1189 ); or (B) any entity engaged in terrorism, as such term is defined in section 2(18) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( 6 U.S.C. 101(18) ).