President Joe Biden issued an executive order Monday on regulating artificial intelligence, aiming for the United States to "lead the way" in global efforts at managing the new technology's risks, the White House said.

The "landmark" order directs federal agencies to set new safety standards for AI systems and requires developers to "share their safety test results and other critical information with the US government," according to a White House statement.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are set to formally introduce the policy at an event later Monday.

The executive action relies on the Cold War-era Defense Production Act, which gives the federal government certain control over companies when national security is at stake.

The law was used early in Biden's tenure to speed up the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence will also address risks to critical infrastructure and seek to protect against AI being used to develop dangerous biological materials.

With the rapid development of generative AI systems such as ChatGPT, the order also requires the development of new "guidance for content authentication and watermarking to clearly label AI-generated content."

Federal agencies will be required to use those tools "to make it easy for Americans to know that the communications they receive from their government are authentic."

Global regulations

The White House said the order would "ensure that America leads the way in seizing the promise and managing the risks" of AI.

It faces competition from the European Union, which is seeking to set up an AI regulatory framework before the year's end, having already outpaced American regulators with landmark rules on data privacy and safety.

Harris is set to lead a US delegation to the UK this week for a global gathering on AI, alongside other foreign politicians, tech industry figures and academics.

The gathering — which will focus on growing fears about the implications of so-called frontier AI — will also be attended by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Several tech companies, including US behemoths Microsoft and Google, have already pledged to submit their AI systems to government review.

Despite the lofty ambitions of the new executive order, the White House admitted that "more action will be required" on AI and pledged to "pursue bipartisan legislation" in Congress, where Republicans control the lower chamber.

Biden also called for congressional action on data privacy legislation, saying that without new safeguards, AI "can put Americans' privacy further at risk."

The US tech industry group BSA, while reacting positively to the executive order announcement, said it also believes "legislative action is ultimately necessary."