Pentagon grapples with growth of artificial intelligence. (Graphic by Breaking Defense, original brain graphic via Getty)
WASHINGTON — Despite planning to spend billions of dollars to develop artificial intelligence tools over the next several years, the Pentagon still lacks a department-wide acquisition strategy, potentially risking spending money on technologies that don’t address future challenges raised by AI-enabled adversaries, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
“Although numerous entities across DOD are acquiring, developing, or already using AI, DOD has not issued department-wide guidance for how its components should approach acquiring AI,” according to the report, released Thursday. “DOD is in the process of planning to develop such guidance, but it has not defined concrete plans and has no timeline to do so.”
In the report, GAO says the Pentagon’s chief digital and AI office (CDAO) should develop a department-wide AI acquisition strategy and that the military services should also develop their own guidance to help navigate the AI acquisition process.
“It is especially important that DOD and the military services issue guidance to provide critical oversight, resources, and provisions for acquiring AI given that the U.S. will face AI-enabled adversaries in the future,” the report says. “Without such guidance, DOD is at risk of expending funds on AI technologies that do not consistently address the unique challenges associated with AI and are not tailored to each service’s specific needs.”
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The Pentagon is investing heavily in AI-enabled tech, including seeking $1.8 billion in fiscal 2024 for various AI efforts, and has established initiatives like the AI and Data Acceleration effort that aims to improve tactical AI at the military’s combatant commands.
DoD has also released several AI-focused strategies, including its Responsible AI Strategy and Implementation Pathway, which is led by the CDAO, and Ethical Principles for AI and a DoD AI Strategy that was released in 2018. The GAO noted that the CDAO oversees an AI “marketplace” called Tradewind to procure AI capabilities, but an overarching acquisition strategy is still missing.
“Currently, there is no comprehensive, DOD-wide guidance specific to AI acquisitions,” according to the report. “In addition, the department has not updated existing acquisition guidance to account for the emergence of AI acquisitions. According to many officials from the DOD components that we interviewed, authoritative AI acquisition guidance would be helpful to navigate the AI acquisition process.”
The report says an official from the office of the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment said DoD has paused developing a department-wide AI acquisition strategy until the CDAO has a “clear plan for concentrating their efforts” and that the CDAO is in the process of standing up an acquisition policy office, though no timeline was offered for that effort.
The military services face similar issues, according to the report. Officials from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force provided comments to the GAO saying DoD-wide guidance would be helpful for the AI acquisition process — though GAO said they should have their own as well.
“Service-specific guidance would better position each service to acquire AI capabilities in a manner that incorporates and balances department priorities with service-specific needs.” the report says.
The GAO provided DoD, the Army, Navy and the Air Force with four recommendations centered around creating AI acquisition guidance. DoD concurred with GAO’s recommendations but hasn’t yet implemented them, according to the report.
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