{"slug":"us-omb-m-25-21","title":"OMB Memorandum M-25-21: Accelerating Federal Use of AI through Innovation, Governance, and Public Trust","short_title":"OMB M-25-21","jurisdiction":"us","instrument_type":"guidance","status":"in_force","is_binding":true,"issuing_body":"Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President","summary_plain":"M-25-21 directs US federal agencies on how to govern and use AI. It requires agencies to designate Chief AI Officers, maintain AI governance boards, publish AI use-case inventories, and apply minimum risk-management practices to \"high-impact\" AI, including pre-deployment testing, AI impact assessments, ongoing monitoring, human oversight and training, and remedies for affected individuals. It replaced the 2024 memoranda with a greater emphasis on adoption and innovation while retaining core risk practices.\n","adopted_on":"2025-04-03","in_force_on":"2025-04-03","applies_from":null,"official_source_url":"https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-for-agencies/memoranda/","last_verified_at":null,"review_status":"pending_review","confidence_level":"medium","updated_at":"2026-09-12T17:35:47+00:00","url":"https://aipolicytracker.org/policies/us-omb-m-25-21","status_note":"Binding on federal agencies as OMB policy; issued together with M-25-22 on federal acquisition of AI. Replaced M-24-10 and M-24-18. Deadlines in the memo run from its issue date; a reviewer should confirm current status.\n","scope_summary":"Applies to federal executive agencies' development, acquisition and use of AI, with exceptions for national security systems and certain research. It does not bind private organisations but sets the expectations vendors must meet to sell AI to federal agencies.\n","who_it_applies_to":"Federal agencies, their Chief AI Officers, and by extension AI vendors and contractors.","key_dates_summary":"Issued 3 April 2025 with staggered compliance deadlines for governance, inventories and high-impact AI practices.","penalties_summary":"None; internal executive-branch policy.","what_organizations_must_do":"Agencies must implement the governance and high-impact practices; vendors should be able to supply documentation, test results and monitoring support that agencies need for high-impact use cases.\n","published_on":"2025-04-03","date_notes":null,"taxonomy":{"actor":["provider","public_authority"],"ai_system_type":["generative_ai","automated_decision_system"],"sector":["public_services"],"risk_category":["unclassified"],"use_case":["public_services","government_procurement"]},"sections":[],"obligations":[{"slug":"us-omb-m-25-21-high-impact-ai-practices","title":"Apply minimum risk-management practices to high-impact AI","category":"risk_management","summary":"For AI whose output serves as a principal basis for decisions with significant effects on rights, safety or access to services, agencies must complete pre-deployment testing, an AI impact assessment, ongoing monitoring, operator training, human oversight and a mechanism for affected people to seek remedy, or stop using the AI.\n","practical_action":"Vendors should prepare test evidence and documentation that agencies can reuse in impact assessments.","is_binding":true,"applies_from":null,"section":null,"source_reference":"Section 4","official_source_url":"https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-for-agencies/memoranda/","review_status":"pending_review","confidence_level":"medium","last_verified_at":null,"actors":["public_authority"],"sectors":["public_services"],"use_cases":["public_services","government_procurement"],"applicability":[{"description":"Federal agencies using high-impact AI; indirectly their vendors.","actors":["public_authority","provider"],"conditions":null}],"evidence_examples":[{"title":"AI impact assessment","description":null,"artifact_type":"report"},{"title":"Pre-deployment test results","description":null,"artifact_type":"report"}],"framework_mappings":[{"framework":"nist_ai_rmf","framework_name":"NIST AI RMF 1.0","reference":"MAP, MEASURE, MANAGE","note":"The memo is aligned with the AI RMF vocabulary.","confidence_level":"medium","is_original":true}],"url":"https://aipolicytracker.org/obligations/us-omb-m-25-21-high-impact-ai-practices"},{"slug":"us-omb-m-25-21-use-case-inventory","title":"Publish an annual AI use-case inventory","category":"transparency","summary":"Agencies must inventory their AI use cases annually and publish the inventory, identifying high-impact uses, with limited exclusions.\n","practical_action":"Agencies maintain the inventory; vendors may be asked for use-case descriptions.","is_binding":true,"applies_from":null,"section":null,"source_reference":"Section 3","official_source_url":"https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-for-agencies/memoranda/","review_status":"pending_review","confidence_level":"medium","last_verified_at":null,"actors":["public_authority"],"sectors":["public_services"],"use_cases":["public_services"],"applicability":[{"description":"Federal agencies.","actors":["public_authority"],"conditions":null}],"evidence_examples":[{"title":"AI use-case inventory","description":null,"artifact_type":"register"}],"framework_mappings":[{"framework":"nist_ai_rmf","framework_name":"NIST AI RMF 1.0","reference":"GOVERN 1.6","note":"Inventory of AI systems.","confidence_level":"medium","is_original":true}],"url":"https://aipolicytracker.org/obligations/us-omb-m-25-21-use-case-inventory"}],"applicability_rules":[],"deadlines":[],"versions":[],"enforcement_events":[],"procurement_rules":[{"title":"Federal acquisition of AI must follow OMB M-25-22","summary":"The companion memorandum M-25-22 sets requirements for agencies buying AI, including protecting government data and avoiding vendor lock-in, performance-based contracting, and requiring vendors to support the documentation and testing agencies need for high-impact AI.\n","applies_to":"Federal executive agencies and their AI vendors","official_source_url":"https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-for-agencies/memoranda/","confidence_level":"medium"}],"sources":[{"title":"OMB Memorandum M-25-21","publisher":"Office of Management and Budget","url":"https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-for-agencies/memoranda/","document_date":"2025-04-03","document_type":"guidance","tier":1,"tier_label":"Official primary source (government, legislature, regulator, court, standards body, intergovernmental)"}],"related_policies":["us-executive-order-14179","us-nist-ai-rmf"],"related_frameworks":[],"faq":[],"source":{"official_source_url":"https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-for-agencies/memoranda/","source_title":"M-25-21 Accelerating Federal Use of AI through Innovation, Governance, and Public Trust","source_publisher":"Office of Management and Budget","source_document_date":"2025-04-03","source_reference":"OMB memoranda index; reviewer to link the PDF directly","source_tier":1,"last_checked_at":null,"last_verified_at":null,"review_status":"pending_review","confidence_level":"medium","content_version":1,"change_summary":"Initial structured record; direct PDF link to be confirmed by reviewer.","reviewed_by":null}}