The Federation of American Scientists Calls on OMB to Maintain the Agency AI Use Case Inventories at Their Current Level of Detail
The federal government’s approach to deploying AI systems is a defining force in shaping industry standards, academic research, and public perception of these technologies. Public sentiment toward AI remains mixed, with many Americans expressing a lack of trust in AI systems. To fully harness the benefits of AI, the public must have confidence that these systems are deployed responsibly and enhance their lives and livelihoods.
The first Trump Administration’s AI policies clearly recognized the opportunity to promote AI adoption through transparency and public trust. President Trump’s Executive Order 13859 explicitly stated that agencies must design, develop, acquire, and use “AI in a manner that fosters public trust and confidence while protecting privacy, civil rights, civil liberties, and American values.” This commitment laid the foundation for increasing government accountability in AI use.
A major step in this direction was the AI Use Case Inventory, established under President Trump’s Executive Order 13960 and later codified in the 2023 Advancing American AI Act. The agency inventories have since become a crucial tool in fostering public trust and innovation in government AI use. Recent OMB guidance (M-24-10) has expanded its scope, standardizing AI definitions, and collecting information on potential adverse impacts. The detailed inventory enhances accountability by ensuring transparency in AI deployments, tracks AI successes and risks to improve government services, and supports AI vendors by providing visibility into public-sector AI needs, thereby driving industry innovation.
The end of 2024 marked a major leap in government transparency regarding AI use. Agency reporting on AI systems saw dramatic improvements, with federal AI inventories capturing more than 1,700 AI use cases —a 200% increase in reported use cases from the previous year. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) alone reported 158 active AI use cases. Of these, 29 were identified as high-risk, with detailed documentation on how 24 of those use cases are mitigating potential risks. This level of disclosure is essential for maintaining public trust and ensuring responsible AI deployment.
OMB is set to release revisions to its AI guidance (M-24-10) in mid-March, presenting an opportunity to ensure that transparency remains a top priority.
To support continued transparency and accountability in government AI use, the Federation of American Scientists has written a letter urging OMB to maintain its detailed guidance on AI inventories. We believe that sustained transparency is crucial to ensuring responsible AI governance, fostering public trust, and enabling industry innovation.
Soft law was never meant to be a permanent solution. Treating it as one, and letting the sandcastle stand in for the skyscraper indefinitely, is how we end up with a decade of voluntary commitments and no enforceable accountability to show for it.
Jobseekers, employees at smaller organizations, and local public workers need more than a weekend crash course in AI. They need practice choosing useful tasks, protecting data, testing outputs, and explaining where human judgment remains necessary.
“What excites me is that it’s very tempting to be very discouraged, and say, ‘Oh, we’ve got these archaic institutions that are calcified and you could never change them.’ But I think we’re in the middle of a technological revolution that will upend lots of things, and does provide a window.”
As Congress considers broader packages to advance critical minerals production and supply chain resilience, science diplomacy vehicles must be part of that conversation, not as an afterthought, but as an intentional and foundational pillar of any strategy.