Gina Raimondo

Gina Raimondo, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, wants to “out-innovate the world” on AI. At the same time, she wants the U.S. to develop “standards, guidelines and best practices to allow [for its] safe and responsible development and deployment”—no easy task.

In the absence of federal regulation, America’s AI governance approach has been set by President Biden’s October 2023 Executive Order on AI—an expansive document that effectively makes Raimondo’s department central to U.S. policy on the technology. Under her leadership, the Biden-Harris administration has secured voluntary commitments from many leading companies in the sector on issues of AI safety, security, and public trust. She also played a central role in setting up the U.S. AI Safety Institute, and formalizing its collaboration with its British counterpart.

Raimondo’s experience as a successful tech investor and previous roles in politics have won her the respect of politicians and industry leaders alike—many of whom she is in regular contact with. Her influence is felt throughout the AI supply chain. She oversees the disbursement of billions of dollars in funding to boost America’s capacity to manufacture semiconductors, a key input for advanced AI systems. In a recent address, she said that America is on track to produce “roughly 20% of the world’s leading-edge logic chips by 2030, up from the zero percent we produce today.” Elsewhere, her department has acted decisively in restricting the export of semiconductors to China.

“If technology this powerful gets into the wrong hands, I worry a lot,” Raimondo tells TIME, citing AI-enhanced cybercrime and bioterrorism among her concerns. “I think the best way to protect our national security is to make sure that the U.S. always maintains our lead.” To this end, she says her department is hiring industry-leading experts. “At the end of the day, the real solution to prevent against abuses of AI is technology.”