“A bill to provide for secure and accountable use of artificial intelligence by the Department of Defense, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section defines terms used throughout the Act, including artificial intelligence (per 15 U.S.C. 9401), autonomous weapon system, covered contract and covered contractor for Department of Defense AI development or deployment, covered incident (encompassing model weight theft, foreign adversary access, supply chain compromise, data poisoning, material vulnerabilities, and undisclosed high-risk model behaviors), frontier artificial intelligence model, high-consequence artificial intelligence application, local defense, materiel target, pattern-of-life analysis, persistent person-centric analytic product, and operational deployment.
This section requires the Secretary of Defense to designate categories of artificial intelligence applications as high-consequence within 180 days after enactment, including AI for nuclear weapon selection or launch, lethal targeting decisions, cyber operations outside Department systems, autonomous weapon systems, and domestic person-based analysis. It prohibits operational deployment of any such application without written approval by an Under Secretary of Defense or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after completion of testing and evaluation, legal and policy review, documentation of limitations, operator override procedures, fallback measures, logging, monitoring, and training. It mandates congressional notification to the armed services committees 15 days before initial deployment, or within 48 hours in extraordinary national security circumstances, along with annual implementation briefings.
This section establishes a Department of Defense policy that artificial intelligence may support analysis and recommendations but may not substitute for accountable human judgment in decisions involving the use of force, detention, domestic person-based analysis, or other high-consequence applications. It requires a clearly identified human decision-maker or chain with documented commander intent, training on system capabilities and limitations, access to relevant information, authority to pause or terminate use, and procedures to elevate uncertainties or anomalies.
This section requires covered contractors to report covered incidents involving artificial intelligence models or systems to the Secretary of Defense within 72 hours for certain incidents and 7 days for others, with supplemental updates as new information arises. It directs the Secretary to issue implementation guidance within 90 days after enactment, transmit reports to specified Department officials, and notify the congressional armed services committees within 7 days.
This section prohibits the Department of Defense from using artificial intelligence to select nuclear targets or execute nuclear launches or detonations; to identify, track, analyze, score, or watchlist United States persons in the United States without express statutory authorization and a documented predicate; or to develop, procure, field, or employ autonomous weapon systems. It permits limited defensive uses of semi-autonomous or operator-supervised systems against materiel targets when the Secretary certifies legal review, testing, human judgment controls, and defined operational constraints, and bars uses based solely on First Amendment activity or to circumvent statutory privacy protections.
This section directs the Secretary of Defense to revise the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement and issue necessary regulations, guidance, and instructions within 180 days of enactment. It also requires the Secretary to brief the Senate and House Armed Services Committees on the implementation plan, including planned regulatory changes, directive updates, and resource issues, within 240 days of enactment.
This section establishes a process requiring congressional approval via joint resolution before the Secretary of Defense may develop, procure, or field autonomous weapon systems outside existing exceptions. Any request must include a classified annex with a military necessity statement, operational constraints, a Law of Armed Conflict compliance certification addressing distinction and proportionality, a risk mitigation plan, and a human judgment framework. Authorizations expire after 3 years and may be renewed. The joint resolution must be introduced within 30 days, referred to the Armed Services committees, discharged after 20 calendar days, and subject to a privileged motion, 10-hour debate limit, and final vote without amendments.