Two senators are seeking to reign in the outsized influence of tech giants such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon over the cloud computing and artificial intelligence defense contracting industry.
Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Eric Schmitt (Republican-Missouri) introduced a bill Thursday that, if passed, would require the Department of Defense to ensure the existence of a “process ‘competitive allocation’ when purchasing cloud services. computing, data infrastructure and AI models.
“Right now, all our eggs are in one giant Silicon Valley basket. Not only does this stifle innovation, it costs more and significantly increases our security risks. Our new bill will ensure that as the Department of Defense continues to expand its use of AI and cloud computing tools, it will strike great deals that will keep our information secure and our business resilient. government,” Senator Warren said in a statement.
Warren, a vocal critic of big tech giants, has long called for them to be broken up — she campaigned in 2020 on the message that big tech companies have “bulldozed the competition” and “crushed small businesses and innovation.
Meanwhile, Schmitt, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee with Warren, has expressed concerns in the past about the Defense Department’s overreliance on big tech companies for cloud computing services and cybersecurity and advocated for increased competition to drive innovation in the defense sector. .
“Competition and innovation are key drivers of the Department of Defense’s ability to maintain its strategic advantage, ensuring that defense contractors, technology developers and internal Department of Defense teams “constantly strive to provide cutting-edge solutions,” Schmitt said.
Specifically, the new invoice would require the Department of Defense to establish a competitive award process when contracting with cloud, advanced AI systems, or data infrastructure providers that enter into contracts of $50 million or more with the DoD per year.
The bill would also require the Department of Defense to ensure that it maintains exclusive rights to access and use all government data.
The DoD contracting process should prioritize the “appropriate role of government” with respect to intellectual property and data rights, as well as security, interoperability, and auditability requirements; integrate modular open systems approaches and “appropriate work allocation”; and consider a multi-cloud strategy when “feasible and beneficial.”
The bill would also require the Pentagon’s Chief Office of Digital and Artificial Intelligence to update provisions in the Supplement to the Federal Defense Acquisition Regulations to ensure that government data provided by the government for the development and operation of AI products at DoD will not be disclosed or used without authorization. of the DoD.
Additionally, CDAO should ensure that government data stored on vendor systems is protected from other data on those systems and segregated from other data on their systems and complies with DoD Data Executive Orders and Data Creation Principles. data benefits (Open DAGIR).
Suppliers who violate these provisions would face sanctions, including fines or contract termination, according to the bill.
The DoD would also be required to publish a report every four years examining competition, barriers to entry for small businesses, and the concentration of market power in the AI sector.
The bill comes at a time when the Pentagon is investing billions of dollars in AI and cloud services. Last month he released the first draft of the law. project for what could be the largest government AI contract in history.
And in 2022, the Pentagon awarded the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract, which could will be worth up to $9 billion over 10 years, to Google, Oracle, Microsoft and Amazon. Although DoD officials have indicated they are considering including more vendors in the next phase of the program.
This is the first time Warren and Schmitt collaborated on the legislation, bringing together both sides of the party in an attempt to reign in the dominance of tech giants. The bill would need to pass the House and Senate before being signed into law.
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