Science & Tech
‘All hands on deck' moment in the US-China AI race: Pentagon's former digital chief
Cloud providers, infrastructure builders, and federal agencies—“all of these pieces need to work together in a coherent ecosystem,” Radha Plumb said.
Policy
DOD cuts $580M in programs, contracts, and grants
The largest cut goes to an HR software program that's consumed more than seven times its budget.
Policy
CISA should abandon disinformation fight, Trump’s DHS pick says
Kristi Noem wants to "refocus" the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on critical infrastructure.
Science & Tech
800-plus 'potential vulnerabilities and biases' may afflict AI-infused medical services
A DOD red team looked at the proposed use of large language models to summarize clinical notes and drive an advisory chatbot.
Science & Tech
Military bases can use private 5G networks, Pentagon says
The Department of Defense said it anticipates most military installations will use commercial 5G solutions but that “under certain circumstances, commercial networks may not fulfill an installation's requirements.”
Threats
Iran hacked Trump campaign, US agencies conclude
U.S. intelligence community leaders said they have “observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle.”
Policy
DARPA hires Twitter whistleblower as CIO
Peiter “Mudge” Zatko will return to the agency after a decade spent working for several leading tech firms.
Defense Systems
Air Force aims to replace its insecure VIP flight scheduling system
The service wants a cloud-based app that can handle double the Pentagon's existing fleet of 66 VIP aircraft.
Policy
The Pentagon's generative-AI task force is trying to answer a lot of questions
How should new tools be used? Where should the actual computing take place? How much will this all cost? And that's just the start.
Business
The Pentagon is trying 'to be less hard to work with' for tech companies
Chief digital officer points to a planned data-sharing ecosystem for industry and a new agreement with DIU.
Policy
Defense Digital Service directors used unauthorized tech tools, watchdog finds
The former leaders “exposed DOD information to additional cybersecurity risk and increased the risk of compromise,” says the Pentagon’s inspector general found.
Defense Systems
Doctors prefer Pentagon's old health-records system to its new one
User satisfaction "increased minimally" last year for MHS Genesis, the electronic-records system installed under a 2015 contract, a GAO survey found.
Policy
Military could be directed to protect industry's satellites, Pentagon says
The Defense Department's first commercial space integration strategy says the military will take steps to “mitigate risks to commercial space actors.”
Defense Systems
The Pentagon's connect-everything effort has a minimum viable product
An initial version of CJADC2 is “low latency and extremely reliable,” Deputy Defense Secretary Hicks said.
Policy
All Pentagon contracts should secure data rights, says advisory board
The Defense Innovation Board would like Congress to "enshrine DOD data access and rights in all vendor agreements.”
Policy
A thumbs-up for State's 3-year-old cyber bureau
GAO says the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy has “helped to better position State to achieve its cyber diplomacy goals.”
Policy
Government should tell people when they're talking to a bot, House lawmakers say
A bipartisan group of House members rolled out companion legislation to an existing Senate bill.
Policy
How Space Force is raising its cyber defenses
The newest service is building in-house cyber teams but also needs to work more closely with U.S. Cyber Command, a deputy chief of space operations says.
Policy
Who is an AI worker? The Pentagon needs a better definition, GAO says
If the Defense Department wants an AI-powered future, it must improve how it thinks about its workforce, watchdog says.
Policy