A bipartisan pair of senators is looking to promote a more competitive playing field for vendors of cloud computing and artificial intelligence technologies looking to sell those services to the Pentagon.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., introduced the Protecting AI and Cloud Competition in Defense Act on Dec. 5 with an aim to break the “unfair advantage” that they say tech-sector giants have on Defense Department (DoD) AI and cloud procurement by prioritizing “resiliency and competition.”
“Right now, all of our eggs are in one giant Silicon Valley basket. That doesn’t only stifle innovation, but it’s more expensive and it seriously increases our security risks,” said Sen. Warren in a press release from her office.
“Our new bill will make sure that as the Department of Defense [DoD] keeps expanding its use of AI and cloud computing tools, it’s making good deals that will keep our information secure and our government resilient,” the senator said.
Sen. Warren’s office noted that four big providers – Google, Oracle, Microsoft, and Amazon – are still the dominant suppliers of cloud services under DoD’s 9 billion Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) contract, and that the Pentagon is asking for $1.8 billion to fund AI programs in fiscal year 2025.
“Competition and innovation are critical drivers of the Department of Defense’s ability to maintain its strategic advantage, ensuring that defense contractors, technology developers, and internal DoD teams are constantly striving to deliver cutting-edge solutions in an increasingly complex and dynamic global security environment,” said Sen. Schmitt in a statement.
According to the senators’ bill, DoD contracts would need to prioritize the “appropriate role” for the government in intellectual property and data rights and security, interoperability, and auditability requirements. Other provisions of the bill include modular open system approaches, “appropriate work allocation and technical boundaries,” and consideration of multi-cloud technology “where feasible and advantageous.”
Vendors holding Pentagon contracts within the past five fiscal years totaling more than $50 million or more annually – and providing cloud, foundation model AI, or data infrastructure services and products – would be required to undergo a “competitive award process” overseen by the DoD.
This process would help to ensure that the Federal government has exclusive rights and access to “all government data,” among other advantages, the bill says.
The DoD’s chief digital and artificial intelligence officer (CDAO) would be charged with securing data provided to contractors and ensuring that no information on the development or operation of AI defense products makes it into the hands of those without authorization to access.
The bill would also keep data “appropriately protected from other data on such systems,” and ensure that it is treated in accordance with DoD “data decrees and Creating Data Advantage (Open DAGIR) principles.”
Violations of those data provisions could result in penalties including termination of the contract or fines, the bill states, with some room for exemptions if DoD component acquisition executives determine that “issuing an exemption is not inconsistent with national security” and notify the CDAO.
The legislation also encourages DoD to consider multi-cloud services to prevent the department from relying on a single provider – which the senators warned could create a national security risk.
Reporting requirements include directing the DoD to publish a report every four years on competition, innovation, barriers to entry, and market power concentration in the AI sector, with recommendations for legislative and administrative action.
The new bill marks the first time Sens. Warren and Schmitt – both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee – have collaborated on legislation, although each have been long-time critics of the “Big Tech” sector.
Their offices said the new legislation “offers meaningful regulation to limit Big Tech monopolies from elbowing out competitors in the AI and cloud computing markets.”
