The United States House of Representatives prohibited employees from using Copilot AI on the institution’s computers. The information was confirmed by the Axios portal last Friday.
According to the administrative director of Congress, Catherine Szpindor, Microsoft’s AI was considered a “security risk”.
The Microsoft Copilot app was considered by the Office of Cybersecurity to pose a risk to users due to the threat of House data leaks to cloud services not approved by the House.
As Copilot has been formally integrated into Windows 11, many congressional staffers may be “tempted” to use the AI service to correct texts, ask for suggestions, and even get information about bills.
However, the American Congress has a strict security scheme that prevents data from being stored in uncertified clouds. Therefore, Copilot cannot even be activated and the security office must begin monitoring the use of AI within the agency’s facilities.
Commenting on the matter, the Microsoft representative said that the company must adapt to the needs of the American government.
We recognize that government users have higher security requirements for their data. That’s why we announced a roadmap of Microsoft AI tools like Copilot that meet federal government security and compliance requirements and aim to deliver the solution later this year.
