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Sen. Rob Portman Urges OMB to Issue Guidance on Federal Use of AI Systems
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Sen. Rob Portman Urges OMB to Issue Guidance on Federal Use of AI Systems

Senator Rob Portman has asked the Office of Management and Budget for an update on the implementation of the Artificial Intelligence in Government Act, which was passed in 2020 and directs OMB to issue guidance to federal agencies with regard to the use of artificial intelligence technologies.

Portman, the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, made the request through a letter addressed to OMB Director Shalanda Young, the committee said Thursday.

“In the absence of OMB guidance, the value of those systems remain in doubt. To that end, as we approach the two year anniversary of passage of the AI in Government Act, I urge OMB to swiftly issue this guidance to ensure that the use of AI across the federal government is effective, ethical, and accountable,” Portman stated.

The AI in Government Act, which became law as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 in December 2020, requires OMB to coordinate with the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the General Services Administration to provide a memorandum to the head of each agency to inform the development of policies concerning federal procurement and use of AI systems and identify best practices to safeguard civil liberties and national security while mitigating discrimination or bias associated with AI adoption.

According to Portman’s letter, OMB has not yet issued its guidance or delivered the required template for agencies to submit their plans.

“As the federal government continues to deploy and operate AI systems, it is incumbent on agencies to ensure those systems comply with the minimum requirements in law for the safety and integrity of such systems,” the senator emphasized.

POC - 4th Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit

The Potomac Officers Club will hold the 4th Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit on February 16. Click here to register for this upcoming in-person event at Hilton McLean.

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NASA Ends InSight Mission in Mars; Thomas Zurbuchen Quoted
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NASA Ends InSight Mission in Mars; Thomas Zurbuchen Quoted

NASA has halted the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport robotic lander mission after the system failed to respond to two communication attempts.

The mission took its final self-photograph on April 24 and sent its last signal to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California on December 15, the space agency said Wednesday.

“I watched the launch and landing of this mission, and while saying goodbye to a spacecraft is always sad, the fascinating science InSight conducted is cause for celebration,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

“The seismic data alone from this Discovery Program mission offers tremendous insights not just into Mars but other rocky bodies, including Earth,” he added.

InSight was built by Lockheed Martin Space. It was launched in May 2018 to explore the inner layers of Mars. In its nearly five-year expedition, the lander delivered valuable data on weather as well as magnetic and quake activity, enabling scientists to date the age of the planet’s surface and the makeup of its crust, mantle and core.

The accumulation of dust on InSight’s solar panels impeded the lander’s power generation, causing its batteries to run out of energy.

Commerce Department Launches $93.5M Grant Program to Support Underserved Businesses; Donald Cravins Jr. Quoted
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Commerce Department Launches $93.5M Grant Program to Support Underserved Businesses; Donald Cravins Jr. Quoted

The Department of Commerce is giving away $93.5 million in grants to support services for minority and other underserved businesses as part of its new Capital Readiness Program.

DOC announced Wednesday that its Minority Business Development Agency launched the grant competition in search of business incubators and accelerators who can aid women, minority and disadvantaged entrepreneurs in launching or growing their business.

The awardees will provide technical assistance, training, tools and resources to the target business owners in sectors such as health care, climate resilient technology, asset management and infrastructure. Incentives will be given to proposals that address socioeconomic challenges, including child care for women in the workplace.

The program will also help the entrepreneurs get capital and financing through the Department of Treasury, as well as connections to subject matter experts, vendors and networks, said MBDA Undersecretary Donald Cravins, Jr.

The agency will hold pre-application webinars on Jan. 10, 17 and 24 for eligible private sector entities, educational institutions, non-profit organizations and consortia.

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Report: China’s Imports of Chip Manufacturing Equipment Fell 40%
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Report: China’s Imports of Chip Manufacturing Equipment Fell 40%

China’s imports of semiconductor-making machinery dropped 40 percent from November last year to $2.3 billion following the October release of U.S. restrictions on the export of advanced chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment to the nation, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

In October, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security implemented new export controls on advanced computing chips and semiconductor production items as part of efforts to safeguard U.S. national security by restricting China’s access to such technologies that could advance its military modernization efforts and surveillance activities.

China’s purchase of American-made chip-making equipment plunged to $349 million in November, reflecting a nearly 50 percent drop from a year earlier and a decline of nearly 30 percent from September, according to data supplied by Beijing.

Shipments of chip manufacturing machines from Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands to China also dropped in November following the issuance of the new U.S. rules, according to the report.

The data showed that the November figure was the lowest since May 2020 and reflected a sharp drop from China’s chip equipment imports of $4 billion in June 2021.

The new export restrictions have resulted in some chip-manufacturing equipment organizations’ withdrawing their personnel and pausing work at Chinese facilities.

Policy Think Tank Founder Richard Revesz Confirmed as Head of Federal Regulatory Office
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Policy Think Tank Founder Richard Revesz Confirmed as Head of Federal Regulatory Office

Richard Revesz, a New York University law professor who founded the Institute for Policy Integrity, was confirmed by the Senate to serve as administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, through a voice vote Wednesday.

His confirmation follows an announcement from President Joe Biden in September, in which Revesz was nominated to lead the office responsible for conducting reviews of agencies’ proposed and finalized regulations and collections of information from the public.

OIRA operates within the Office of Management and Budget.

Revesz most recently served as Dean Emeritus at the New York University School of Law and director of the Institute for Policy and Integrity think tank focused on promoting policies related to the environment, consumers and public health.

He has authored more than 80 articles about environmental policies and the institutional conditions influencing the creation of regulatory policy.

Born in Argentina, Revesz immigrated to the U.S. when he was 17 and graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University.

He holds a master’s degree in environmental engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.

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Jay Bonci: Air Force Looks at 5G Tech for Military Utility
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Jay Bonci: Air Force Looks at 5G Tech for Military Utility

Jay Bonci, chief technology officer of the Department of the Air Force, thinks fifth generation communication networks could be a valuable, but not exclusive, means of connectivity in future military operations, C4ISRNET reported Thursday.

He said at a recent livestreamed event that DAF is responding to the Department of Defense’s “special emphasis” on 5G capabilities and likened it to the significance of fiber optics and WIFI in battlefields.

“It’s got some interesting technologies, in future tranches, that we’re looking at for military utility,” the former Akamai Technologies executive was quoted as saying by C4ISRNET.

The Pentagon’s fiscal 2023 budget request includes $250 million for 5G-related projects, according to the report.

Bonci noted the DOD’s work with wireless service and infrastructure providers to facilitate military adoption of 5G applications.

Amazon Web Services, Cisco, Dell Technologies, General Dynamics Information Technology, Splunk and T-Mobile formed a coalition in November with the goal of helping government customers and other sectors deploy wireless and edge technology platforms.

OSTP Seeks Input on National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative
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OSTP Seeks Input on National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is inviting public input on the potential benefits of biotechnology and biomanufacturing advancements to the U.S. government’s sustainability targets.

The request for information notice posted on Federal Register is part of the Biden administration’s National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative, which aims to stimulate innovations in multiple sectors from agriculture to national security.

The federal government intends to explore the use of biotech and bioprocessing to advance technologies in health, food and agriculture, supply chain, climate change, energy, and national and economic security.

To that end, OSTP is seeking expert opinion from the industry, scientific community and academia on matters such as the creation of a data ecosystem to support U.S. bioeconomy breakthroughs.

OSTP issued the RFI on Tuesday and will accept feedback until Jan. 20.

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MIT Professor Evelyn Wang Confirmed as ARPA-E Director; Jennifer Granholm Quoted
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MIT Professor Evelyn Wang Confirmed as ARPA-E Director; Jennifer Granholm Quoted

Evelyn Wang, former Ford Professor of Engineering and head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been confirmed by the Senate to serve as director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.

Wang, who was nominated for the position in March, told lawmakers during her Senate confirmation hearing that she would prioritize efforts related to carbon capture and storage and the commercialization of technologies funded by the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E once confirmed, ARPA-E said Thursday.

“Now more than ever, we rely on ARPA-E to support early-stage energy technologies that will help us tackle climate change and strengthen American competitiveness,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

“Dr. Wang’s experience and expertise with groundbreaking research will ensure that ARPA-E continues its role as a key engine of innovation and climate action,” she continued.

At MIT, Wang served as associate director of the Solid-State Solar Thermal Energy Conversion Center. She has worked as a consultant for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s defense science study group and as a technology expert and researcher for advanced technologies and projects at Google.

Wang holds over 15 patents, has published more than 180 journal papers and has received over two-dozen awards and honors in her field. She is best known for her work on solar-power technologies able to extract drinkable water from the air in dry climates.

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GE Aviation to Help Facilitate US, Foreign Military Aircraft Maintenance Training
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GE Aviation to Help Facilitate US, Foreign Military Aircraft Maintenance Training

The U.S. Air Force has awarded General Electric’s aviation subsidiary a three-year, $29.3 million contract to provide contractor engineering and technical support through the training of military and civilian personnel on aircraft systems maintenance.

The firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity award will cater to the Air Force, Air National Guard and Navy as well as to numerous foreign military sales customer locations, the Department of Defense said Wednesday.

GE Aviation is expected to complete the delivery of these services by the end of December 2025. The contract involves unclassified foreign military sales to Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.

The contracting activity is the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, which will use fiscal 2023 operations and maintenance funds to obligate over $13 million at the time of the award.

House Passes $1.7T Omnibus Spending Package for FY23
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House Passes $1.7T Omnibus Spending Package for FY23

A $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package for fiscal year 2023 has been passed by the House of Representatives in a 225-201 vote.

The House vote on Friday follows approval from the Senate on Thursday, and the omnibus package — composed of 12 separate bills — is now headed to the President’s desk, where it is expected to be signed before the short-term measure to extend government funding expires at midnight Friday.

Congress has also passed a one-week stopgap bill that will fund the federal government through Dec. 30 while the omnibus bill awaits the President’s signature.

The bill increases defense spending for 2023 to $858 billion — a 10 percent increase from fiscal year 2022 — and increases non-defense discretionary spending by six percent for a total of $773 billion.

Also included in the bill is an allocation of $40.6 billion for nationwide disaster relief efforts and another $44.9 billion for U.S. emergency assistance to Ukraine.

For service members and civilian employees at the Pentagon, the measure includes a 4.6 percent increase in pay. 

The House vote on the omnibus bill comes on the heels of the National Defense Authorization Act being signed into law by President Biden on Friday afternoon. 

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