GAO Confirms Agencies Met Executive Order 14110's Chief AI Officer Mandate

The Government Accountability Office published a report on 2024-09-09 finding that federal agencies had fully carried out the AI management and talent requirements of a 2023 presidential executive order, including the government-wide directive for agencies to designate Chief AI Officers.

This GAO review is the dated milestone confirming agencies met the Chief AI Officer mandate created by that order.

What it is

The instrument reviewed is the executive order the White House issued in October 2023 to guide a coordinated, government-wide approach to AI.

GAO's role was to evaluate whether agencies had implemented a set of the order's AI management and talent requirements with deadlines falling by the end of March 2024.

What it requires

Among other things, the order requires agencies to issue guidance for AI management and to increase AI talent within government.

GAO found that the Executive Office of the President organized an AI and Technology Talent Task Force and established the White House AI Council as required.

The Office of Management and Budget had convened and chaired the interagency Chief AI Officer council, issued AI guidance and use case instructions to agencies, and set initial plans for AI talent recruitment.

All 13 selected requirements tied to AI management and talent, including the CAIO-related items, were reported as fully implemented.

What security leaders should do

Security leaders should track whether their agency's Chief AI Officer role is staffed and whether it has visibility into both AI adoption and AI risk management, since GAO treated CAIO-related coordination as a measurable compliance milestone rather than a symbolic title. Leaders working with federal agencies as vendors or partners should confirm which office now holds the CAIO function, since GAO's review shows the role was tied directly to OMB guidance, agency AI use-case inventories, and interagency coordination structures that affect how AI risk decisions are made and documented.