US Congressional staff members can no longer use Microsoft's Copilot on their government-issued devices, according to axios. The publication said it obtained a memo from House Chief Administrative Officer Catherine Szpindor in which she told congressional staff that the ai chatbot is now officially banned. The Office of Cybersecurity has apparently deemed Copilot a risk “due to the threat of leaking House data to non-House approved cloud services.” While there's nothing stopping them from using Copilot on their own phones and laptops, it will now be blocked on all Congress-owned Windows devices.
Almost a year ago, Congress also placed a hard limit on the use of ChatGPT, which works with OpenAI's large language models, just like Copilot. It banned staff from using the free version of the chatbot on House computers, but allowed them to continue using the paid version (ChatGPT Plus) for research and evaluation due to its stricter privacy controls. More recently, the White House unveiled rules that federal agencies must follow when it comes to generative ai, which would ensure that any tools they use “do not endanger the rights and safety” of Americans.
Microsoft said axios which does recognize government users' need for increased security requirements. Last year, ai-roadmap-for-government-services/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:announced;cpos:4;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>Announced a roadmap of tools and services intended for government use, including an Azure OpenAI service for classified workloads and a new version of the Microsoft 365 Copilot assistant. The company said all of those tools and services will feature higher levels of security that would make them more suitable for handling confidential data. Szpindor's office, according to axioswill evaluate the government version of Copilot when it becomes available before deciding whether it can be used on home devices.
