Author Archive
Policy
Tech bills of the week: Creating a Congressional Office of Technology; Enhancing data center transparency; and more
Lawmakers introduced measures to confront the use of AI by human traffickers and to strengthen the cybersecurity of cloud-based infrastructure.
Modernization
VA professional association asks Congress ‘to pause further deployments’ of new EHR
The National Association of Veteran Affairs Physicians and Dentists sent a letter to top lawmakers that asked them to only allow new software rollouts to resume after VA has “completed an independent patient-safety assessment at the converted sites.”
Modernization
VA completes 2026 EHR system deployments with final two site go-lives
The new Oracle Health EHR rollouts in Ohio and Alaska bring the agency’s total deployments to 13 medical facilities this year.
Modernization
The push to modernize legacy tech
As the U.S. government seeks to drive the rapid adoption of new tools, many agencies are still forced to rely on outdated technologies for critical operations.
Policy
Tech bills of the week: Preventing AI model theft; Regulating AI-generated political content; and more
Lawmakers this week took aim at foreign efforts to create knockoff copies of U.S.-made AI models and AI’s capability to influence voting.
Artificial Intelligence
‘No question’ data centers will be considered critical infrastructure, top House intel Dem says
Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., said the AI-focused facilities are going to be even more critical than their traditional data center counterparts because “so much more functionality is going to rely on their health and existence.”
Digital Government
Inaugural ‘GSA Labs’ cohort identifies $229M in potential savings, agency says
The 25 employees selected for the program completed six projects focused on workplace experience, website consolidation and other agency priorities.
Artificial Intelligence
USPTO looks to AI agents to ease examiner workloads
The office’s Acting Commissioner for Patents Barry Schindler said putting agents in the hands of its examiners “can shorten that [review process] to one year, because you can pick up the phone and have conversations.”
Policy
Permitting reform ‘single most important thing we could do for national security,’ senator says
Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., said China’s energy production “is really something we have to compete on, and right now we can't do that without permitting.”
Policy
Tech bills of the week: Cutting federal funding for Flock; Making data centers shoulder their power costs; and more
Lawmakers are continuing to take bipartisan aim at the use of artificial intelligence-powered surveillance systems and at data center development and operations.
Artificial Intelligence
AI offers Secret Service unique mission enhancements, official says
Threats against the Secret Service’s full-time protectees are up over 40% since last year. The service’s CIO and CAIO Chris Kraft said AI “can help us as we investigate those threats, monitor those threats [and] bring together correlations between seemingly disparate information.”
Artificial Intelligence
Transportation turns to AI to trace research grant recipients’ links to foreign adversaries
Neil Chaudhry, senior advisor for AI at Transportation, says the agency has worked with its partners to create “some really robust AI tools” to analyze the recipients of its research grants.
Artificial Intelligence
House Democrats seek watchdog review of AI-powered air traffic control systems
The inclusion of AI capabilities has “rightfully raised serious questions about its reliability and safety benefits,” House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Democrats wrote in a letter to GAO.
Modernization
Top Dems press VA for answers on $17B EHR modernization contract boost
The ranking members of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs committees said VA’s “citation of ‘unanticipated complexities’ as the rationale for nearly tripling the original contract remains unexplained.”
Policy
Tech bills of the week: Transparency in agency AI use; Creating a CISA AI task force; and more
Although Congress is in recess, lawmakers in the House and Senate still rolled out proposals over the past week looking to promote clarity around the use of — and potential harms posed by — AI tools.
Artificial Intelligence
White House unveils billions in investments for Genesis Mission
Eleven leading tech firms pledged to provide $2.4 billion in compute credits to help drive scientific research and technological innovation through the use of artificial intelligence and other emerging capabilities.
Emerging Tech
Energy debuts new Genesis Mission, quantum computing initiatives
The department announced $159 million in new phase II Genesis Mission project awards, $96 million for early-career researchers and a new graduate fellowship program, along with an effort to advance the development of fault-tolerant quantum computers.
Digital Government
VA rolls out CLEAR login option and in-person identity verification pilot
The new offering will allow participating veterans to use facial recognition to access their VA.gov accounts.
Artificial Intelligence
Experts hope new AI czar’s leadership can move the needle on regulation
“Maybe [the AI czar] can work with Congress to help come up with some governance, some laws” covering AI, one former Trump official told Nextgov/FCW.
Artificial Intelligence
Tech bills of the week: AI research competitions; Prohibiting federal use of biometric tech; and more
Lawmakers introduced a slew of measures this week that looked to rein in AI risks and provide new oversight and guardrails around the construction of new data centers.
