UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

At the executive level, the White House strives to achieve and maintain US superiority in artificial intelligence (AI). In February 2019, President Trump issued the ‘Executive Order on AI’, announcing the American AI Initiative and directing the federal government to pursue activities in five areas: invest in AI research and development (R&D), unleash AI resources, clear barriers to AI innovation, train an AI-ready workforce, and promote an international ecosystem that aligns with American AI innovation and its responsible use.

A year later, the ‘American AI Initiative: Year One Annual Report’ was published. Activities reported include: the first reporting of government-wide non-defence AI R&D spending, the establishment of a ‘Federal Data Strategy:Leveraging Data as a Strategic Asset’, and the publication of ‘A Plan for Federal Engagement in Developing Technical Standards and Related Tools’ by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

At the legislative level, the US Congress has introduced bills focused on the research of generative adversarial networks – the technology behind deepfakes. In December 2019, the US House of Representatives passed the ‘Identifying Outputs of Generative Adversarial Networks (IOGAN) Act’ to combat deepfakes by supporting research to accelerate the development of technology to identify deepfakes. The IOGAN Act directs research activities to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the NIST.

The application of AI to national security has been widely explored. As part of the orchestrated efforts directed by the Executive Order, the US Department of Defense (DoD) announced its ‘AI Strategy: Harnessing AI to Advance Our Security and Prosperity’  in February 2019, with the overall objective of ‘harnessing AI to advance security and prosperity’. The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) was established in response to the ‘2019 National Defense Authorization Act’ and was designated as a focal point for AI within the DoD in order to implement AI operationalisation across the department. Moreover, in response to the recommendations submitted by the Defense Innovation Board, the DOD adopted a set of ethical principles for the use of AI in February 2020. The principles apply to both combat and non-combat functions and are aimed to ensure that the US military upholds legal, ethical, and policy commitments in AI.

Furthermore, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) conducts and funds a series of research projects on AI. One of which, the Angler Project aims to develop autonomous underwater robotic systems that are capable of navigating and surveying ocean depths without relying on GPS and human intervention, and of manipulating human-made objects of interest.

The intelligence community, such as the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), assesses implications of AI technology for US national security. According to the DNI’s Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community, AI-enhanced systems will be granted with increasing levels of autonomy and decision-making, while the world will face associated economic, military, ethical, and privacy challenges.

The USA contributes to the work of the Group of Governmental Experts on emerging technologies in the area of lethal autonomous weapons systems (GGE on LAWS). In a working paper ‘Implementing International Humanitarian Law in the Use of Autonomy in Weapon Systems’ submitted to the GGE in 2019, the USA noted that ‘Existing IHL, including the requirements of distinction, proportionality, and precaution, provides a comprehensive framework to govern the use of autonomy in weapon systems’. The country opposes the adoption of an international instrument banning LAWS.

5G

In March 2020, the ’Secure and Trusted Communications Network Act’ was adopted to protect the telecommunications infrastructure of the US by prohibiting the use of federal funds to purchase equipment from foreign companies that pose a threat to national security. The act also creates a reimbursement scheme to remove and replace equipment already in use that was manufactured by companies that pose a national security risk at an unacceptable level. The statement issued by White House did not explicitly name companies that are prohibited from the federal funding, however, it said that ‘the Administration will not risk subjecting America’s critical telecommunications infrastructure to companies that are controlled by authoritarian governments or foreign adversaries.’

In the same month, the Secure 5G and Beyond Act was also adopted, directing the US President to develop, in cooperation with other federal agencies, a strategy to ensure the security of 5G systems and infrastructures within the US, assist other countries in maximising 5G security, and protect the competitiveness of US companies, privacy of US consumers, and integrity and impartiality of 5G-related standard setting bodies.

This act was adopted in the context of a controversy surrounding potential security risks generated by the involvement of Chinese companies in 5G roll-out activities. The US government has argued that Huawei ‘should not be trusted with the vital security of 5G networks’, and alleged that the company allows backdoors in its technology, to the benefit of the Chinese government, thus posing a threat to national security. Although these claims have been denied by Huawei, the USA has also tried to persuade other countries to place bans on the use of Huawei equipment.

To address the security challenges associated with 5G networks, DARPA created the ‘Open, Programmable, Secure 5G (OPS-5G)’ programme. It aims to develop a portable, standards-compliant network stack for 5G mobile networks that is open source, and secure by design. Its ultimate goal is to develop open source software and systems that strengthen the security of 5G and beyond.

Moreover, the implications of 5G technology for US national security have been explored by the leadership of the DNI. The agency reported that advanced communications technologies produced by foreign companies will challenge US competitiveness and data security, according to the Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community issued in January 2019.

The USA pledges to lead the global race to deploy 5G communications. To achieve this vision, the Trump Administration introduced measures to stir investment in 5G capabilities, such as tax cuts and deregulatory actions. Also, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has auctioned 1550 MHz of spectrum to be used by telecommunications providers for 5G.

QUANTUM COMPUTING

At the executive level, the White House implements policy to support quantum computing research. The National Science and Technology Council, established within the White House, published the National Strategic Overview for Quantum Information Science in September 2018. Choosing a science-first approach to quantum information science (QIS) as one of its key strategies, the USA strives to strengthen federally-funded research programmes and take various approaches, from distributing small grants to centres and consortia, to supporting long-term QIS research.

Later in 2018, the ‘National Quantum Initiative Act’ was enacted to ensure continued US supremacy in QIS and its applications by supporting research, development, demonstration, and application of QIS. In Title II, the Act directed the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to continue to support and expand R&D activities in QSL to advance commercial development of quantum applications. Furthermore, in Title III, the National Science Foundation was designated to carry out research and education programmes on QIS and engineering, for instance organising the competitive award of grants to higher education institutions or eligible non-profit organisations.

The Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QEDC) was launched by the NIST in September 2018, partnering with a non-profit R&D centre, SRI International. The QEDC strives to strengthen US leadership in quantum research and development. Funded by both the government and member organisations from the private sector, the activities of the QEDC are encompassing: they identify workforce needs that are indispensable to the development of quantum technologies; facilitate efficient public-private partnership; and, foster sharing of intellectual property, efficient supply chains, and quantum literacy, etc.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is also exploring quantum computing. The NASA Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (QuAIL) was established to assess the potential of quantum computers to impact computational challenges that the agency faces. In 2019, NASA, Google and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced that they achieved quantum supremacy, having ‘demonstrated the ability to compute in seconds what would take even the largest and most advanced supercomputers thousands of years to achieve’.

The application of quantum computing to national security is highly expected. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency announced the Optimization with Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum devices programme (ONISQ) in February 2019. It combines intermediate-sized quantum devices with classical systems to find a solution for combinatorial optimisation, which is of significant interest to the US military. Potential application cases include: enhancing the military’s complex logistics system, machine-learning, coding theory, etc. While its potential is significant, quantum computing can pose a risk to US national security. The US Office of Director of National Intelligence highlighted the risk of decryption of sensitive information where foreign adversaries are capable of deploying a large-scale quantum computer.

BLOCKCHAIN

The US Congress legislators are eager to introduce regulatory measures on blockchain technology. In February 2017, the US Congress created the Blockchain Caucus. In 2018, the causes expressed support for digital currencies and blockchain technology, urging the House of Representatives to prioritise accelerating the development of blockchain technology, to ensure transparency, security, and authentication. In 2018, two bills on virtual currency-related issues were introduced: the ‘Virtual Currency Consumer Protection Act of 2018’ and the ‘US Virtual Currency Market and Regulatory Competitiveness Act of 2018’. Both of these acts envisioned to promote fair and transparent virtual currency markets by examining the potential for price manipulation, as well as promoting US competitiveness in the enlarging global virtual currency market. The US Congress is yet to adopt these bills.

When Facebook announced its plans to launch its Libra cryptocurrency, US authorities expressed concerns over the implications of this tool for financial stability and monetary policy. Calibra Head David Marcus and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg were called to testify in front of Congress. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve – the US central bank – is analysing the potential benefits and costs of central banks’ digital currencies.

Blockchain technology implementation within the public sector is growing. The US Department of Justice is applying the technology to mitigate crime and promote cross border cooperation. According to an official statement, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation (CI), the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the National Crime Agency in the UK, and the Korean National Police in the Republic of Korea have arrested a Korean national and seized the server that he used to operate a Darknet market that advertised child pornography videos available for download by members of the website. The IRS-CI special agents were able to trace bitcoin transactions by following the flow of funds on the blockchain, and determine the location of the Darknet server.

In addition, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been exploring the application of blockchain to issue credentials digitally to improve security, ensure interoperability, and detect forgery and counterfeiting. The DHS awarded US$197 000 to a Texas-based company, Factom, to develop a blockchain security system that the agency can use to verify identities and help detect raw material imports.

AUGMENTED/VIRTUAL REALITY

The US has started implementing virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology for use in the military and defence sectors. For instance, the US Naval Research Laboratory established a Virtual Reality Laboratory (VR Lab) to pioneer in developing virtual environments and mobile augmented reality, and to conduct research in the field of VR and AR. The Battlefield Augmented Reality System (BARS) was developed to train pilots to better navigate military operations in urban terrain. Furthermore, the VR Lab has been directing efforts at improving the realism of animated animal characters. This is seen as being of high importance, since animals exist in environments where security personnels are being trained, thus the realistic behaviours and visual representations of animal characters needs to be improved in the training applications.

The US Army utilised the technology to create a Synthetic Training Environment (STE), which provides a collective, multi-echelon training and mission rehearsal capability for operational, institutional, and self-development training courses. Soldiers can benefit from the STE, which is built on One World Terrain concepts within a Common Operating Environment, to obtain the skills necessary to achieve and maintain proficiency in support of multi-domain operations.

DARPA developed the OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) programme, which aims to provide the tools to quickly generate swarm tactics, evaluate the effectiveness of swarm tactics, and integrate the best swarm tactics into field operations. The programme also envisions to leverage immersive and intuitive interactive technologies (i.e. AR, VR, voice-, gesture-, touch-based technologies) to create a command interface with immersive situational awareness and decision presentation capabilities. Furthermore, DARPA has awarded a US$ 4.7 million grant to a group of engineers at Columbia University to develop lightweight AR glasses. The proposed AR glasses will be able to monitor the wearer’s vision and display contextual images that are corrected for the wearer’s vision.

INTERNET OF THINGS

To address the security risks associated with the Internet of Things (IoT), a bipartisan legislation was introduced in March 2019. ‘The Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2019’, if adopted, would require the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to take measures to increase cybersecurity for IoT devices.

In addition, in January 2020, the US Senate passed the ‘Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things (DIGIT) Act’, which aims to ensure appropriate prioritisation, spectrum planning, and interagency coordination to support the IoT. The bill notes that the USA leads the world in the development of IoT devices, and the prioritisation of a national strategy in this sphere would enhance its competitiveness. To achieve this vision, the bill proposes the creations of a working group, comprising federal agencies (e.g. the Department of Commerce, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Trade Commission, etc.) and non-governmental stakeholders (such as ICT manufacturers, IoT experts in the field of transportation, energy, health care, academia, rural stakeholders, etc.).

Federal agencies are acting to address the security challenges of IoT. In November 2016, the DHS issued the ‘Strategic Principles for Securing the Internet of Things’. The non-binding principles aim to equip stakeholders with security practices as they develop, manufacture, implement, or use IoT devices. The principles recommend the following measures: enable security by default through unique, hard to crack default usernames and passwords; build the device using the latest operating system; use hardware that incorporates security features; and, design IoT devices with system and operational disruption in mind. Moreover, in August 2019, the NIST released draft security feature recommendations for IoT devices. The voluntary guidance intends to help promote the best practices for mitigating IoT-related risks.

The use cases of drones in the IoT realms have been growing, both at the consumer level,and the public sector level. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) set up the ‘FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018’ that describes how, when, and where people can fly unmanned aircraft systems (i.e. drones) for recreational purposes. Users are required to register their drone and obtain authorisation before flying in controlled airspace. The FAA also released an App called B4UFLY to help users check where they can and cannot fly. Furthermore, the FAA has developed a toolkit to help law enforcement and public safety entities in operating and handling situations that involve drones. By reporting an incident involving unauthorised drones, the report filer will be able to receive follow-up assistance from the FAA Law Enforcement Assistant Program special agents.

ROBOTICS

The US government supports research and development in the robotics sector, including industrial robots, robotics process automation, and robotic systems for military use.

In 2011, several US federal agencies – the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Institute of Health, the US Department of Agriculture, and the US Department of Defense – launched the National Robotics Initiative (NRI) to support the development of next generation robotics, advance the capability and usability of robotics systems and artifacts, and encourage innovation in these areas.

In 2016, and building on NRI, the National Robotics Initiative 2.0: Ubiquitous Collaborative Robots (NRI-2.0) was launched, with the involvement of the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Agriculture, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. NRI-2.0 is dedicated to supporting fundamental research that will accelerate the development and use of collaborative robots (co-robots, robots whose main purpose is to work with people or other robots to accomplish a goal).

In the military and defence sector, the US Army has a Robotics and Autonomous Systems Strategy (launched in 2017), outlining plans for how the Army will integrate robotics and autonomous systems into its operations ‘to help ensure overmatch against increasingly capable enemies’. In line with this strategy, the Army has been investing in robotics research and innovation to enhance its military capabilities. For instance, up to 2019, the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) led the Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance, a partnership with other federal agencies and research institutions which allowed the development of advanced robots. DARPA is investing in programmes that aim to ‘move robotics from an expensive, niche field into the mainstream’. The Army also runs a Robotic Enhancement Program, aimed at informing emerging Army requirements by identifying and evaluating robotic systems, accessories, payload or software that have the potential to enhance the combat effectiveness of the force.