A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced a new bill aimed at fostering more competition for Pentagon cloud and artificial intelligence contracts.
The Protecting AI and Cloud Competition in Defense Act, introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Republican Sen. Eric Schmidt of Missouri, would allow Big Tech monopolies to compete in AI and cloud competition. “Meaningful regulation that limits our ability to outcompete our competitors in the field.” According to a press release issued by Warren’s office on Thursday.
“Right now, all our eggs are in Silicon Valley’s giant basket, which not only stifles innovation, but is also more expensive and seriously increases security risks,” Warren said in a statement. Ta. “Our new bill will ensure that as the Department of Defense continues to expand its use of AI and cloud computing tools, we get good deals that keep our information safe and maintain government resiliency. I guarantee it.”
Schmidt said in a statement that the bipartisan bill “promotes resiliency, interoperability, and innovation.”
Warren and Schmidt are both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The new bill would require a competitive adjudication process for each cloud computing, data infrastructure, and foundation model solution procurement when contracting with a vendor with a total contract value of $50, making Uncle Sam the It would maintain exclusive rights to access and use government data. We have had more than 1 million associates with the Department of Defense in any of the past five fiscal years.
Contract provisions should prioritize the government’s “appropriate role” with respect to intellectual property and data rights, security, interoperability, and auditability requirements. Includes a modular open systems approach and “proper work allocation” and technical boundaries. The bill’s language says it would consider multi-cloud technology “where feasible and advantageous.”
The bill, in its Data Training and Use Protection section, directs the Department of Defense Digital and AI Office (CDAO) to update or promulgate the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement to ensure the availability of government-provided data. I am asking the Secretary of Defense to do so. Government-provided data is stored on vendor systems and may not be disclosed or used without appropriate authorization. Masu. “Provided for the purpose of developing and operating AI products and services” must be “appropriately protected from other data on such systems and comply with the Department of Defense Data Act and Creating Data Advantage (Open DAGIR).” be treated according to principles.”
If you violate these regulations, you will be subject to penalties such as fines and contract cancellation.
However, the bill allows for exemptions if the Department of Defense’s procurement executives determine that the procurement does not violate national security. Acquisition personnel must notify the CDAO of the specific terms that are waived, the vendors and programs that are waived, and the rationale for the transition.
The bill also includes reporting requirements.
“No later than January 15, 2026, and annually for four years thereafter, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in coordination with the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, shall submit a report evaluating the competition to the Congressional National Defense Committees. Innovations, barriers to entry, and concentration of market power or market share in the AI space for each period covered by the report. “The report shall also include recommendations for appropriate legislative and administrative action,” the law states.
The department would be required to post a publicly available version of the report on the Department of Defense website to ensure transparency.
The bill’s introduction comes as the Pentagon is pouring billions of dollars into cloud and AI projects to acquire cutting-edge capabilities for warfighters and new tools that improve the effectiveness and efficiency of back-office functions. It was held inside.
A press release from Warren’s office said the department has already awarded $9 billion in cloud programs to Google, Oracle, Microsoft and Amazon.
The initiative, known as Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC), sees tech giants vying for task orders. The Department of Defense has moved away from contracting with a single vendor for its former enterprise cloud capabilities, known as Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI), and instead explored a multivendor acquisition approach. When the JWCC program was adopted in December 2022, Google, Oracle, Microsoft, and Amazon appeared to be the only vendors capable of meeting the Department of Defense’s security requirements for the effort.
But more recently, the Defense Information Systems Agency has been considering the possibility of bringing more cloud service providers on board and introducing a new contracting mechanism in the next version of the program, called JWCC 2.0.
Meanwhile, the Department of Defense has signed large contracts with Silicon Valley-based AI vendors such as Palantir and Anduril.
Major Department of Defense programs are typically subject to industry competition under Federal Acquisition Regulations.
A press release from Warren’s office said the new bill would “ensure that new Department of Defense contracts protect competition in the AI and cloud computing markets, rather than giving an unfair advantage to a few large companies.” “It becomes something that you do.”
It is currently unclear whether the bill will have enough political support to pass. It must pass both the House and Senate and be signed into law by the president by the end of the current Congressional term. A new parliament and government will be inaugurated next month.
