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NHTSA Proposes Rule on Safe Deployment of Self-Driving Vehicles

Client Alert | 1 min read | 03.24.21

In a recently published RAIL, The Journal of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Law article, “NHTSA Proposes Rule on Safe Deployment of Self-Driving Vehicles,” Crowell & Moring’s Rebecca Baden Chaney and Rukiya Mohamed discuss the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) advance notice of proposed rulemaking that marks a departure from the way in which the agency has previously addressed automated driving systems (ADS), and automotive safety more generally. Although NHTSA does not intend to issue any Federal standards around ADS yet, the agency is considering how it can use regulatory authority to place a focus on safety measures as ADS technology develops. This article outlines NHTSA’s proposed safety framework and possible implementation of that framework.

The authors note that NHTSA is seeking comments from the public through April 1, 2021 with the goal of developing a “safety framework” to “define, assess, and manage the safety of ADS performance while ensuring the needed flexibility to enable further innovation.”

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Client Alert | 4 min read | 06.25.26

Twin Executive Orders Seek to Spur Quantum Leap in Technology and Cybersecurity

On June 22, 2026, President Trump signed two executive orders, “Securing the Nation Against Advanced Cryptographic Attacks” (Quantum Security EO) and “Ushering in the Next Frontier of Quantum Innovation” (Quantum Innovation EO), marking the most significant federal action on quantum technology since the Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act of 2022, which directed agencies to harden their information systems against quantum-enabled hacking. The orders seek to speed the development of quantum computers, which are advanced processors that can calculate multiple possibilities simultaneously and thus solve problems exponentially faster than traditional computers. At the same time, the orders look to protect against the danger that quantum technology can “break” traditional encryption by easily decoding it. Of particular note for government contractors, the Quantum Security EO directs agencies to update federal acquisition regulations to require contractors by 2031 to adopt information processing standards that resist quantum-enabled codebreaking....