WASHINGTON – A group of top industry organizations representing businesses and leaders from across the economy urged the Trump Administration to preserve the core attributes of a key tool embraced across the private sector to manage AI governance and policies.

In a letter sent on February 12 to US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, leading industry organizations representing AI developers and enterprise software companies, makers of consumer electronics, and leading bankers called on the administration to preserve the core structure, function, and benefits of the AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF) produced by the National Institutes of Science and Technology (NIST).

The letter to Secretary Lutnick was signed by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, Alliance for Digital Innovation, American Bankers Association (ABA), Business Software Alliance (BSA), Consumer Technology Association (CTA), CTIA, Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), NCTA - The Internet & Television Association, Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), and TechNet.

The NIST AI RMF, the groups wrote, “is now a widely recognized approach to AI governance that companies are leveraging to advance continued American AI leadership.” The industry organizations continued:

“As the Department of Commerce prepares to make targeted modifications to the RMF to align with the Administration’s AI agenda, we urge you to preserve the framework’s core structure and functions. The RMF works because it is robust, flexible, voluntary, and risk-based. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with NIST so the updated RMF builds on these strengths and remains a valuable tool to companies that have invested heavily in implementing it.”

The NIST AI RMF serves as a common language for AI governance within companies across multiple industries, helps promote global interoperability, and ultimately provides a voluntary, non-prescriptive, and risk-based foundation for AI governance that can evolve with technology, according to the groups.

For more information on the letter, contact [email protected].