People
Trump’s FBI pick opposes warrant requirement for contested spying power
During his Senate confirmation hearing, Kash Patel said a warrant for Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act “is just not comported with the requirement to protect American citizenry.”
Emerging Tech
Trump’s Commerce pick backs light-touch regulation in emerging tech policy
Howard Lutnick voiced robust support for U.S. leadership in AI and quantum information sciences alongside a light touch regulatory approach.
Artificial Intelligence
OpenAI debuts ChatGPT Gov for federal agency use
The new chatbot brings the same capabilities from the public model to government-approved and secure cloud environments for federal workloads.
Artificial Intelligence
Trump signs AI executive order
The order calls for the development of an AI action plan and sets up a process for revoking actions taken under President Biden’s previous AI executive order signed in October 2023.
Emerging Tech
Industry group calls on Trump to appoint a quantum czar
A letter sent to President Donald Trump also called for a reauthorization of 2018’s National Quantum Initiative Act.
People
Trump taps IBM’s Darío Gil for Energy’s undersecretary for science and innovation
Gil previously served on Trump’s President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology under his first administration.
Artificial Intelligence
US ‘has to win’ the AI innovation race, OpenAI exec says
Senior Vice President of Global Affairs Chris Lehane commended a recent executive order opening federal land to AI data center development and posited ways to encourage states to back AI development.
Artificial Intelligence
Biden orders federal land to be leased for AI data center development
The executive action will leverage federally protected lands to develop data centers capable of supporting AI software, with a priority on incorporating clean energy sources.
Artificial Intelligence
USPTO debuts 2025 AI strategy
The agency aims to introduce automation to support patent and trademark application processing.
Emerging Tech
Commerce announces new export control on US AI products
The new export controls will alter licensing requirements for AI chips and closed-source models to allow allied nations to access U.S. AI innovation while preventing adversarial nations from doing so.
Emerging Tech
El Capitan supercomputer is ready to handle nuclear stockpile and AI workflows
The fastest supercomputer in the world, housed at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, was dedicated to U.S. national security missions on Thursday, supported by novel hybrid processing chips.
Cybersecurity
Forthcoming executive order seeks to plug holes in federal cyber practices
The eleventh-hour cybersecurity executive action asks agencies to rethink software procurement, supply chains and AI, among other things.
Emerging Tech
Lawmakers call for a review of TSA’s biometric and AI use
Members of the House Homeland Security Committee are asking GAO to investigate the benefits and potential harms of TSA’s usage of artificial intelligence and biometrics.
Artificial Intelligence
DHS launches new AI playbook for public sector
The new guidance is intended for other government organizations to use and draws on lessons learned from three internal pilot programs.
Artificial Intelligence
Transportation’s AI lead sees ‘collaboration with everybody’ at his agency
Meet Mike Horton, the acting chief AI officer at the Department of Transportation.
People
Trump announces more tech policy team members
President-elect Donald Trump tapped four people — some returning to the White House after serving in his first administration — to serve on his technology policy team.
Artificial Intelligence
Agencies report over 1,700 AI use cases
While federal agencies finalized their artificial intelligence inventories, discrepancies in reporting risk mitigation persist.
Artificial Intelligence
House AI Task Force recommends sector-specific regs in final report
The document aims to balance keeping the U.S. competitive in AI innovation and adoption while mitigating negative outcomes.
Cybersecurity
Agencies look to automation software to usher in next phase of post-quantum security
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is working with select agencies to implement post-quantum cryptography, and will turn to vendors to further secure federal data.
Emerging Tech