Artificial Intelligence
Senate overwhelmingly passes amendment removing state AI moratorium
After attempting to negotiate a shorter moratorium timeframe, a bipartisan team of senators succeeded in striking the provision that would have prevented states from enforcing AI regulations from the Big Beautiful Bill.
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Senate Democrats want more information on SSA’s use of AI on its phone lines
A new letter sent to the SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano follows Nextgov/FCW reporting that an anti-fraud check installed on the agency’s phone lines found very little likely fraud.
AI companies see openings to improve federal, defense operations
Executives at OpenAI and Anthropic have both championed artificial intelligence as the future of government workflows.
Lawmakers demand review of VA’s AI-driven contract cuts
Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Angus King, I-Maine, said the use of AI to identify agency contracts for termination “adds an entire new level of unease connected to the decision-making, security, governance, and quality control of the entire process.”
USPTO touts success in AI applications
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has initiated several programs — such as the Scout chatbot assistant and PE2E search tool — in an effort to streamline the work done by human employees.
OpenAI awarded $200M DOD prototype contract
The Defense Department is eyeing administrative operations, health care and cyber as areas with potential use cases for the company's technology.
House bill would task NSA with developing AI security playbook to counter China
Lawmakers want the NSA to develop guidance to help companies better protect the development of their advanced AI technologies from threat actors.
Industry calls for more research funding, public-private partnerships in the National AI Strategy
AI heavy hitters cited robust research funding, participation in standards development, and public, private and academia collaboration in comments sent to policymakers.
AWS GovCloud gets high-level security approvals for Anthropic and Meta AI models
Select versions of the Claude and Llama foundation models will be available for public sector customers via the AWS GovCloud.
Democrats raise alarm over AI-driven contract cuts at VA
Connecticut Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the ranking member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said DOGE’s use of an AI tool resulted in the “wholesale slashing” of VA contracts.
Senate reconciliation bill text tweaks state AI regulation ban
The Senate Commerce Committee would block some funding from states that want to regulate the technology. Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of lawmakers have said any moratorium should be dropped altogether.
Trump’s AI and Crypto Czar touts AI policy that prioritizes U.S. proliferation and innovation
David Sacks called for removing regulatory red tape that is getting in the way of broader AI innovation and adoption.
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Inside OpenAI’s wishlist for the House AI-Energy working group
Comments submitted by OpenAI leadership to a House group dedicated to AI and energy reiterated the need for broad infrastructure investments.
Commerce rebrands its AI Safety Institute
The transformation of the Biden-era U.S. AI Safety Institute further signals the Trump administration’s innovation-prioritizing approach to AI governance.
Republican legislators voice support for public funding in AI research
The senators advocated for continued federal investment in artificial intelligence research and development, along with nimble regulation and industry collaboration.
Salesforce’s AI agents receive FedRAMP high authorization
Salesforce said that its Agentforce platform “has built-in trust standards and a unified approach.”
FDA unveils ‘Elsa’ generative AI tool for staff
Following a successful pilot, the Food and Drug Administration unveiled its in-house large language model designed to help agency staff in drug clinical evaluations and reviews.
Public-private partnerships need more ‘efficiency,’ Energy official says
The agency’s national labs can offer high performance computing capabilities for artificial intelligence innovation, several leaders noted, but it requires an expedited negotiation process.
House AI Task Force member optimistic Congress will move on group’s recs later this year
The bipartisan House AI Task Force’s recommendations provide “a great running start” for Congress to establish guardrails around the safe use of emerging technologies, the lawmaker said.
Deloitte’s Silicon to Service’ available for government, regulated industries
Dell Technologies, NVIDIA and Equinix are also involved in the offering.
