October 2023 U.S. Tech Policy Roundup

Rachel Lau and Kennedy Patlan work with leading public interest foundations and nonprofits on technology policy issues at Freedman Consulting, LLC. Associate J.J. Tolentino and Hunter Maskin, a Freedman Consulting Phillip Bevington policy & research intern, also contributed to this article. US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the signing of an executive order on artificial intelligence, October 30, 2023. Source With a government shutdown narrowly averted and a new House speaker finally assuming the role, October saw many significant technology policy developments in the United States. The month marked the one-year anniversary of the White House Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, an executive effort to establish five principles to govern the United States’ use of AI, and President Joe Biden issued a landmark executive order on artificial intelligence, with other actions coming shortly after in early November. Continue reading for more details on the executive order, major litigation against Meta, and other domestic tech policy news.  In October, federal agencies engaged on issues ranging from AI and antitrust to net neutrality and semiconductors. As 2024 approaches, the Department of Justice continues to focus on the reauthorization of the controversial Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the government to collect communications of “non-U.S. persons outside the United States” but has been subject to substantial abuse. The FCC voted 3-2 to move forward with Chair Jessica Rosenworcel’s proposal to reinstate net neutrality. In addition, the agency released tentative rules for equitable deployment and…October 2023 U.S. Tech Policy Roundup