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GSA Unveils Generative AI Evaluation Suite USAi
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Josh Gruenbaum. The FAS commissioner commented on GSA’s launch of USAi, a generative AI evaluation suite.

The General Services Administration has launched USAi, a secure generative artificial intelligence suite designed to help federal agencies experiment with AI tools and accelerate AI adoption.

GSA said Thursday the launch of USAi advances the priorities in the White House’s America’s AI Action Plan, which seeks to strengthen U.S. leadership in AI through coordinated federal action, streamlined adoption and smarter infrastructure.

GSA Unveils Generative AI Evaluation Suite USAi

A panel discussion at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Navy Summit on Aug. 26 will explore generative AI and how it optimizes decision-making within the service branch. Book your spot now at this GovCon networking event! 

Expanding Federal Government’s AI Infrastructure Through USAi

To broaden the federal government’s AI infrastructure, USAi provides a shared services platform that enables agencies to test and assess emerging technologies without duplicating resources. USAi provides a cloud-based environment that helps agencies speed up AI experimentation and build interoperable tools that align with federal priorities.

“GSA is proud to be on the frontlines of delivering on President Trump’s call to accelerate AI adoption in government and help empower agencies to deliver enhanced services to the American public,” said Josh Gruenbaum, commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service.

“USAi provides a secure and collaborative environment for government employees to explore cutting-edge AI models that will make day-to-day workflows more efficient and help discover innovative solutions prior to making procurement decisions,” added Gruenbaum, a 2025 Wash100 awardee.

Advancing Workforce Readiness With USAi

The USAi platform supports agency-level digital transformation and workforce upskilling. It provides usage analytics and dashboards to help agencies measure maturity, track performance and guide adoption strategies. It also aims to bring chat-based AI, document summarization, code generation and other AI tools to government users.

“The launch of USAi shows how GSA is translating President Trump’s AI strategy into action and accelerating AI adoption across government. USAi will put mission-ready tools directly into the hands of agencies to modernize faster, boost security, and lead globally,” said GSA Deputy Administrator Stephen Ehikian.

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FAR Council Issues Model Deviation Text for Federal Acquisition Regulation’s 6 Sections
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Government contracting. The FAR Council released model deviation text for six parts of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

Nextgov/FCW reported that the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council on Thursday released new model deviation text for six parts of the FAR as part of the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul, or RFO, initiative.

In April, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing his administration to amend FAR to streamline the federal procurement process and eliminate barriers to doing business with the government. 

In June, the FAR Council released model deviation text for sections related to emergency acquisitions, contract modifications and acquisition of information and communication technology, or ICT.

The overhauled FAR parts include sections related to administrative and information matters; required sources of supplies and services; acquisition of commercial products and commercial services; and information security and supply chain security.

The council announced the removal of FAR Part 51, Use of Government Sources by Contractors, and FAR Part 38, Federal Supply Schedule Contracting. These class deviations will take effect on Nov. 3.

Commercial Acquisition

FAR Part 12 concerning the acquisition of commercial products and services has been reengineered in its scope, structure and operational mechanics to accelerate federal procurement and align it more with commercial practices.

The council said the changes reflect an effort to establish a user-centric part that advances flexibility and innovation when acquiring commercial goods and services.

The revised part structure consolidates all relevant guidance into process-oriented subparts: presolicitation; solicitation; evaluation and award; postaward; and micropurchases.

Forty-six provisions and clauses from other FAR parts have been removed as they are no longer required for commercial contracts. The change reflects a 30 percent reduction in the number of provisions and clauses that apply to commercial contracts.

Information Security & Supply Chain Security

The council has reorganized FAR Part 40 related to information security and supply chain security into three key subparts: processing supply chain risk information; security prohibitions and exclusions; and safeguarding information.

The subpart 40.1, for instance, now incorporates a section concerning sharing supply chain risk information.

The overhauled part also merged more than a dozen provisions and clauses into four: one provision and three clauses. The change is part of efforts to improve clarity and eliminate redundancies.

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NSF, NVIDIA Back Ai2 in Development of Open-Source AI Models
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National Science Foundation logo. NSF partners with NVIDIA to fund the development of open-source AI models.

The National Science Foundation and NVIDIA will invest $152 million in the development of advanced, open-source artificial intelligence models aimed at accelerating American scientific discovery. The public-private investment will support the Open Multimodal AI Infrastructure to Accelerate Science project led by the Allen Institute for AI, or Ai2, NSF said Thursday.

Public-Private Investment for Open Source AI Models

NSF will provide $75 million, with NVIDIA contributing $77 million. The initiative supports the White House AI Action Plan and aims to ensure the United States remains a leader in AI-powered research and innovation.

“As called for in the AI Action Plan, the Trump administration is committed to ensuring America fosters the leading open-source and open-weight models that set the global standard for business and academic research worldwide,” said Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and a two-time Wash100 Award recipient. “This partnership between NSF and NVIDIA puts the Action Plan to work and demonstrates the power of the American innovation ecosystem. We look forward to the novel research and scientific breakthroughs to come through open-source model development and AI-enabled science.”

The investment is expected to address the budget constraints surrounding the creation and research of powerful AI models, which academic researchers use to explore various topics.

Boosting Research Across Disciplines

With the funding, Ai2 will create open-source, multimodal large language models trained on scientific data to help researchers analyze literature, generate code and visualization, and connect new insights to past discoveries to accelerate breakthroughs in fields such as materials science, biology and energy. The project also includes workforce development to expand AI expertise beyond traditional tech hubs.

In addition to Ai2, teams from the University of Washington, the University of Hawaii at Hilo, the University of New Hampshire and the University of New Mexico will also receive support from NSF and NVIDIA.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang called AI “the engine of modern science,” while Ai2 CEO Ali Farhadi stressed the need for open collaboration to maintain U.S. scientific leadership.

Initial applications of the open-source AI models are expected to advance material discovery, improve protein function prediction for biomedical advancements and address weaknesses in current LLMs.

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Navy CDAO Discusses Upcoming AI, Data Weaponization Strategy
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Navy CDAO Stuart Wagner. Wagner shared about an upcoming Navy strategy

An upcoming strategy will accelerate the process by which the Department of the Navy can extract insights from data and transform them into new tactics and technologies, according to Stuart Wagner, chief data and artificial intelligence officer for the DON.

At a recent event, the official shared that the final draft of the department’s data and AI weaponization strategy will be signed “in the next month or so.” He said that the document will identify six broad goals, which will include rapidly transitioning AI systems from pilot to operational, equipping personnel with data and AI skills, and facilitating collaboration with industry, academia and allies.

Navy CDAO Discusses Upcoming AI, Data Weaponization Strategy

Join Wagner and other Navy leaders at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Navy Summit on Aug. 26. The exclusive GovCon event will bring together military and industry experts to discuss innovations that shape the future of naval operations. Register for this highly anticipated in-person networking event before tickets sell out.

Why Weaponizing Data Matters

Wagner explained that, in the modern battlefield, the ‘observe-orient-decide-act,’ or OODA, strategic loop moves faster than ever before. He pointed to Ukraine, where the measure/countermeasure cycle is less than 24 hours.

When one force introduces a novel technology or technique, such as a new way to use a drone, the other side will be able to analyze the innovation and develop a countermeasure within hours.

The official warned that rapidly analyzing data and extracting insights to develop new tactics, techniques and technology or make improvements to the present force will be crucial in a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2027.

“27 is not far off. We’re not going to rebuild the fleet in a year,” he said. “I suspect we’ll be able to move the needle more to prepare by refining our existing capabilities.”

How to Accelerate Weaponization of Data

Wagner explained that while the military has many sources of data, most never get looked at by a human or analyzed by AI. He said forward-deployed warships, for example, are not equipped with communications equipment that can relay information to headquarters in an instant. It will be faster to physically deliver a hard drive from sea to shore, he added.

The upcoming strategy aims to ensure that data moves rapidly and gets analyzed by high-powered AIs so that human tacticians and software developers can come up with a solution for an emerging threat.

The data and tech chief also called for a revision of the Pentagon’s classification policies and rules surrounding AI. Doing so would present opportunities for large language models such as chatbots to support decision-making.

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NIST Issues Special Publication for Control Overlays for Securing AI Systems
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Artificial intelligence. NIST's new special publication addresses risks associated with developing and deployment of AI

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has published a concept paper and proposed action plan for Special Publication, or SP, 800-53: Control Overlays for Securing AI Systems.

NIST Publishes Guide for AI Security Control Overlays

The concept paper, published Thursday, provides security control overlays to enable organizations to manage cyber risks associated with artificial intelligence development and use. The document provides examples of use cases for generative AI, predictive AI, and single and multi-agent AI within an organization.

For instance, organizations may deploy AI agent systems to serve as enterprise copilot, which can assist in menial tasks like creating calendar entries or streamlining workflows.

The agency plans to issue a series of overlays dedicated to securing artificial intelligence systems using SP 800-53 controls, SP 800-218A, Draft NIST AI 800-1 and NIST AI 100-2e2025.

NIST Seeking Public Feedback

NIST launched a Slack channel to support its AI overlay projects. By joining the online community, organizations can discuss the overlays, receive updates and provide real-time feedback.

In addition to the Slack channel, interested parties may submit their comments, questions and suggestions via email to overlays-securing-ai@list.nist.gov.

The agency specifically wants to hear insights into how its can prioritize overlay development for various use cases, additional use cases that should be included in future publications and how well the document represent types of AI adoption in the real world.

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NASA Issues RFI for Fission Surface Power System
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Request for Information. NASA is soliciting space industry feedback for a fission surface power system.

NASA has issued a request for information for a fission power system that will potentially be utilized for crewed missions to the Moon and Mars.

Fission Surface Power System for Future Space Missions

The agency said Thursday it is seeking feedback from the space industry regarding a fission surface power system capable of generating at least 100 kilowatts of electricity and weighing less than 15 metric tons. The system will also utilize a closed Brayton cycle power conversion system to convert heat to electricity.

NASA aims to deploy a nuclear reactor on the Moon by the mid-2030s. The technology will be used for exploring the moon and eventually Mars and will also be leveraged for national security. Aside from providing continuous power, the nuclear reactor can be deployed in areas on the Moon that are not reached by sunlight or during prolonged lunar nights.

Interested vendors can submit their responses to the RFI by Aug. 21.

Remarks From Fission Surface Power Program Executive

Steve Sinacore, Fission Surface Power program executive, said, “Today’s call for industry input is an important step toward engaging the commercial space industry in powering the lunar economy and enabling future human exploration on Mars. Developing a safe, reliable and efficient power supply is key to unlocking the future of human space exploration and ensuring America retains its dominance in space.”

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DIU Launches 2025 Blue Object Management Challenge
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DIU logo. The DIU launched the 2025 Blue Object Management Challenge.

The Defense Innovation Unit, in collaboration with the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, has launched the 2025 Blue Object Management Challenge, an initiative aimed at enhancing the Department of Defense’s approach to collecting, conditioning and integrating multimodal data into a unified operational framework that supports modeling, simulation and operations.

Blue Object Management Challenge Objectives

The program, open to U.S.-owned non-traditional defense contractors and small businesses, aims to fast-track the advancement of artificial intelligence-powered decision-making capabilities to enhance data access and integration across the DOD. This is intended to address the challenges of relying on manual processes and unconnected systems, including inaccuracies, slow performance and a lack of system interoperability.

Furthermore, the program aims to award companies building dynamic data integration platforms, smart databases and sensing technologies that generate AI-driven insights for real-time tracking and coordination of blue objects, or friendly assets like U.S. military personnel, equipment and infrastructure.

The Blue Object Management Challenge directly addresses USINDOPACOM Commander Adm. Samuel Paparo‘s call for enhanced interoperability, sustainment capabilities and integration of AI in modern warfare.

Program Details

Up to ten companies will be selected to participate in the 12-week accelerator program, during which they can directly engage with DOD mission partners and work with the accelerator team on their projects. Participants will receive a portion of the $500,000 prize pool. Interested companies have until Sept. 5 to submit their responses.

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Final SHIELD Proposal Request for Golden Dome Is Coming Soon
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Golden Dome. The missile defense initiative has a new contracting vehicle from the MDA.

When government and industry leaders gathered at the 2025 Space and Missile Defense Symposium last week, the Department of Defense placed a moratorium on officials speaking in public sessions about Golden Dome, President Trump’s Iron Dome-inspired missile protection and alert initiative. However, news from private sessions between military leaders at the Missile Defense Agency and the industrial base have become known, with help from reporting by Breaking Defense.

The most significant of this information is about the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense, a.k.a. SHIELD, contracting vehicle, which MDA released a pre-solicitation paper for at the very end of July. SHIELD is estimated to value at least $151 billion over 10 years and an official timeframe was issued at SMD for when to expect a request for proposal.

In the absence of Pentagon-led public discussions of Golden Dome, we must turn to industry voices on the matter: top leaders from the biggest competitors in GovCon will assemble for the “Supporting the Shield: Navy’s Role in the Golden Dome Architecture” panel at the 2025 Navy Summit on Aug. 26. Register now for Potomac Officers Club’s final event of its Summer DOD Series!

What Are the Golden Dome Contracts?

SHIELD

So far, there are two Golden Dome-related contracting vehicles. SHIELD is the more recent of the two and is said to be extremely “versatile” and wide-ranging in its scope. It will theoretically allow DOD components to quickly issue task orders and contracts as needed under its umbrella.

Prototyping, cybersecurity, systems engineering, weapon design and data mining were all provided as possible SHIELD activities in the slides that were privately shown to industry.

MAA

The first-announced Golden Dome contract vehicle from MDA is entitled the Multiple Authority Announcement, which surfaced in late March. The MAA encompasses potential contracts for kinetic and hypersonic defense, command and control, space-based sensors and interceptors, and more, and Breaking Defense said a slide at SMD billed it as an acquisition mechanism for “disruptive technologies & rapid capability development from non-traditional sources.”

Up to this point, MDA has actively sought proposals under MAA for advanced capability concepts, and electromagnetic protection and threat object discrimination.

While both pertaining to Golden Dome, DOD spokespeople made it clear that SHIELD and MAA are two “distinct opportunities.”

What Is the Timeline for SHIELD?

Responses to the July 31-issued presolicitation notice for SHIELD are due in five days — on Aug. 19.

A final RFP for the project will be released before Oct. 1, the DOD told industry at the event.

Before that RFP is announced, it’s important to convene with your industrial base colleagues about how to prepare your business for this incredibly lucrative opportunity. Join the Golden Dome GovCon conversation at the 2025 Navy Summit on Aug. 26.

Final SHIELD Proposal Request for Golden Dome Is Coming Soon
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Executive Order Seeks to Promote Competitive Space Industry
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The White House. The EO seeks to eliminate overly restrictive rules for space launch and reentry vehicles.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order to help streamline regulations and promote competition in the commercial space industry.

Streamlining Launch Licenses

The White House said Wednesday the EO will help streamline commercial license and permit approvals for U.S.-based operators by directing the secretary of Transportation to accelerate environmental reviews for launch and reentry licenses and permits.

The policy also directs the secretary of Transportation to evaluate regulatory requirements to eliminate redundant, outdated or overly restrictive rules for launch and reentry vehicles.

The order mandates the creation of a position within the Department of Transportation to advise on promoting innovation and deregulation in the commercial space industry. The policy also directs the appointment of an associate administrator for commercial space transportation within the Federal Aviation Administration to advance regulatory reform.

“By slashing red tape tying up spaceport construction, streamlining launch licenses so they can occur at scale, and creating high-level space positions in government, we can unleash the next wave of innovation. At NASA, this means continuing to work with commercial space companies and improving our spaceports’ ability to launch,” Sean Duffy, acting NASA administrator, said in a statement.

“Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, we will enable American space competitiveness and superiority for decades to come. I look forward to leveraging my dual role at DOT and NASA to make this dream a reality,” added Duffy, who also serves as transportation secretary.

Advancing Spaceport Development

The new policy directs the secretaries of Defense and Transportation and the NASA administrator to align their review processes to eliminate duplicative regulations and speed up spaceport development.

Under the EO, the secretary of Commerce should work with the secretaries of Defense and Transportation and the head of NASA to assess states’ compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act and whether states are hindering spaceport infrastructure development under CZMA.

The order also promotes in-space manufacturing, orbital refueling and other space activities through a streamlined framework.

“The FAA strongly supports President Trump’s Executive Order to make sure the U.S. leads the growing space economy and continues to lead the world in space transportation and innovation,” said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford. “This order safely removes regulatory barriers so that U.S. companies can dominate commercial space activities.”

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Jules Hurst III Appointed Acting Defense Comptroller, Chief Financial Officer
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Jules Hurst. The DOD has named Hurst as its acting comptroller and chief financial officer.

Jules Hurst III has been appointed to perform the duties of the Defense Department’s under secretary (comptroller) and chief financial officer. The OUSD (C) announced Wednesday that he assumed the acting-capacity role on Aug. 11. 

Who Is Jules Hurst III?

Before his appointment, Hurst was performing the duties of assistant secretary of defense for manpower and reserve affairs. He also performed the duties of under secretary of Defense for personnel and readiness and held various leadership roles under the same office. He also became the defense adviser and legislative director at the Office of the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Hurst previously served in the Army for half a decade as a legislative liaison, Army congressional fellow and executive officer. He was also the project manager of Project Maven, which involves artificial intelligence and machine learning. Prior to that, he was the executive officer for technology and analytic innovation unit of the Joint Special Operations Command. Under the Army’s Central Command, he served as a targeting officer and began his career as an intelligence officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency.

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