Defense
SOCOM adding AI, autonomy ‘at every level,’ commander says
Fast adoption illustrates smaller organizations’ ability to harness disruptive tech.
Ideas
A year of OneGov: Over a billion in savings and still growing
COMMENTARY | The Trump administration's landmark initiative proved that consolidated, smart purchasing is not only good for government operations but also the bottom line.
Cybersecurity
Pentagon launches cyber apprenticeship program
The initiative is part of the administration’s focus on addressing technology and cybersecurity vacancies by placing an emphasis on skill-based hiring.
Cybersecurity
Federal drawdown of election support ‘destroyed’ ongoing relationships, experts say
A House hearing highlighted warnings from state officials and other experts who say the Trump administration’s dismantling of CISA’s election work damages trust and coordination before the 2026 midterms.
Digital Government
Treasury missed security controls in giving DOGE system access, GAO finds
The finding is among the first oversight reports Congress’ watchdog has released about the controversial cost-cutting team.
Artificial Intelligence
OpenAI announces availability across cloud providers
The artificial intelligence developer updated its terms and conditions with Microsoft, announcing that its suite of agentic capabilities would now be available via other cloud providers.
Exclusive
Digital Government
GSA taps Greg Hogan as head of government’s identity proofing service, Login.gov
Hogan previously worked at the Office of Personnel Management, an early DOGE stronghold, and more recently in the White House’s National Design Studio.
Cybersecurity
Italy extradites alleged Chinese state-backed hacker to US over theft of COVID-19 research
U.S. officials requested the arrest, which was conducted in Milan in July 2025.
Digital Government
Agencies doled out $186B in improper payments last year, GAO says
That fiscal year 2025 improper payment number is up by $24 billion from the previous fiscal year, even as the Trump administration says that it’s tamping down on fraud.
Artificial Intelligence
Lieu and Obernolte introduce consolidated AI bill package
The American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Act takes provisions from previous bills and the 2024 Bipartisan AI Task Force report to move forward AI policies with support from both sides of the aisle.
Exclusive
Artificial Intelligence
Experts call for halt of AI chip exports to China after White House distillation warning
An AI policy group argues the move is necessary after the White House warned that Beijing is attempting to use U.S. AI systems to build similar capabilities.
Defense
Pentagon adds Google’s latest model to GenAI.mil as usage soars
Users have built more than 100,000 AI agents using the generative-AI platform, officials said.
Policy
Tech bills of the week: Creating data privacy standards; Securing critical infrastructure from drones; and more
Congressional lawmakers introduced a raft of proposals this week, including bills to balance the power needs of data centers with consumer energy costs and to establish guidelines on the types of advanced semiconductors that can be sold to China.
Emerging Tech
House lawmakers introduce quantum initiative reauthorization
The House version of the NQIA Reauthorization runs in parallel with the Senate version, with industry reacting well to its application-focused language.
Digital Government
NIST is giving fingerprint examiners better tools for a messy job
A newly annotated fingerprint dataset combined with open-source software could help forensic examiners work more consistently, train more effectively and sort through evidence faster.
Acquisition
Commerce goes direct to hyperscalers with $4.1B cloud pact
The department cites artificial intelligence, weather modeling and scale as reasons to narrow the competition.
Artificial Intelligence
White House accuses China of ‘deliberate, industrial-scale campaigns’ to steal US AI models
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy told federal agencies that the Trump administration will be enhancing its engagement with the private sector to counter foreign-led distillation campaigns designed to undermine U.S. AI advances.
Digital Government
IRS lacks transparent plans to leverage tech in the face of staffing cuts, GAO and employees say
Agency leaders are “shoving AI at us,” one IRS employee said, despite the fact that “they don’t have the right tools for us yet.”
Defense
Autonomous weapons will be ‘key and essential part’ of warfare, Joint Chiefs chair says
Chairman Dan Caine also said the U.S. needs to become a “better” buyer of advanced tools and tech for defense activities.
People