Sec. 238. JOINT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND TRANSITION ACTIVITIES
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## SEC. 238 JOINT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND TRANSITION ACTIVITIES **[**[10 U.S.C. note](/us/usc/t10) prec. 4061**]** ###
(a)Establishment ####
(1)In general The Secretary of Defense shall establish a set of activities within the Department of Defense to coordinate the efforts of the Department to acquire, develop, mature, and transition artificial intelligence technologies into operational use. ####
(2)Emphasis The set of activities established under paragraph
(1)shall include— #####
(A)acquisition and development of mature artificial intelligence technologies in support of defense missions; #####
(B)applying artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions to operational problems by directly delivering artificial intelligence capabilities to the Armed Forces and other organizations and elements of the Department of Defense; #####
(C)accelerating the development, testing, and fielding of new artificial intelligence and artificial intelligence-enabling capabilities; and #####
(D)coordinating and deconflicting activities involving artificial intelligence and artificial intelligence-enabled capabilities within the Department. ###
(b)Designation Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall designate a senior official of the Department with principal responsibility for the coordination of activities relating to the development and demonstration of artificial intelligence and machine learning for the Department. ###
(c)Organization and Roles ####
(1)In general In addition to designating an official under subsection (b), the Secretary of Defense shall assign to appropriate officials within the Department of Defense roles and responsibilities relating to the research, development, prototyping, testing, procurement of, requirements for, and operational use of artificial intelligence technologies. ####
(2)Appropriate officials The officials assigned roles and responsibilities under paragraph
(1)shall include— #####
(A)the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering; #####
(B)the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment; #####
(C)one or more officials in each military department; #####
(D)officials of appropriate Defense Agencies; and #####
(E)such other officials as the Secretary of Defense determines appropriate. ###
(d)Duties The duties of the official designated under subsection
(b)shall include the following: ####
(1)Strategic plan Developing a detailed strategic plan to acquire, develop, mature, adopt, and transition artificial intelligence technologies into operational use. Such plan shall include the following: #####
(A)A strategic roadmap for the identification and coordination of the development and fielding of artificial intelligence technologies and key enabling capabilities. #####
(B)The continuous evaluation and adaptation of relevant artificial intelligence capabilities developed both inside the Department and in other organizations for military missions and business operations. ####
(2)Acceleration of acquisition, development and fielding of artificial intelligence The official designated under subsection
(b)shall— #####
(A)use the flexibility of regulations, personnel, acquisition, partnerships with industry and academia, or other relevant policies of the Department to accelerate the acquisition and fielding of artificial intelligence capabilities; #####
(B)ensure engagement with defense and private industries, research universities, and unaffiliated, nonprofit research institutions; #####
(C)provide technical advice and support to entities in the Department and the military departments to optimize the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to meet Department missions; #####
(D)support the development of requirements for artificial intelligence capabilities that address the highest priority capability gaps of the Department and technical feasibility; #####
(E)develop and support capabilities for technical analysis and assessment of threat capabilities based on artificial intelligence; #####
(F)ensure that the Department has appropriate workforce and capabilities at laboratories, test ranges, and within the organic defense industrial base to support the artificial intelligence capabilities and requirements of the Department; #####
(G)develop classification guidance for all artificial intelligence related activities of the Department; #####
(H)develop standard data formats for the Department that— ######
(i)aid in defining the relative maturity of datasets; and ######
(ii)inform best practices for cost and schedule computation, data collection strategies aligned to mission outcomes, and dataset maintenance practices; #####
(I)establish data and model usage agreements and collaborative partnership agreements for artificial intelligence product development with each organization and element of the Department, including each of the Armed Forces; #####
(J)work with appropriate officials to develop appropriate ethical, legal, and other policies for the Department governing the development and use of artificial intelligence enabled systems and technologies in operational situations; and #####
(K)ensure— ######
(i)that artificial intelligence programs of each military department and of the Defense Agencies are consistent with the priorities identified under this section; ######
(ii)appropriate coordination of artificial intelligence activities of the Department with interagency, industry, and international efforts relating to artificial intelligence, including relevant participation in standards setting bodies; and ######
(iii)that appropriate entities in the Department are reviewing all open source publications from both the United States and outside the United States that contribute to, affect, or advance— ######
(I)artificial intelligence research and development; or ######
(II)the understanding of the Secretary concerning the investments by adversaries of the United States in artificial intelligence and the development by such adversaries of capabilities relating to artificial intelligence. ####
(3)Chief digital and artificial intelligence officer governing council #####
(A)Establishment The Secretary shall establish a council to provide policy oversight to ensure the responsible, coordinated, and ethical employment of data and artificial intelligence capabilities across Department of Defense missions and operations. Such council shall be known as the “Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer Governing Council” (in this paragraph referred to as the “Council”). #####
(B)Membership The Council shall be composed of the following: ######
(i)Joint Staff J–6. ######
(ii)The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. ######
(iii)The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Evaluation. ######
(iv)The Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. ######
(v)The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. ######
(vi)The Director of Cost Analysis and Program Evaluation. ######
(vii)The Chief Information Officer of the Department. ######
(viii)The Director of Administration and Management. ######
(ix)The service acquisition executives of each of the military departments. #####
(C)Head of council The Council shall be headed by the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer of the Department. #####
(D)Meetings The Council shall meet not less frequently than twice each fiscal year. #####
(E)Duties of council The duties of the Council are as follows: ######
(i)To streamline the organizational structure of the Department as such structure relates to the development, implementation, and oversight of artificial intelligence. ######
(ii)To improve coordination on artificial intelligence governance with the defense industry sector. ######
(iii)To issue and oversee guidance on ethical requirements and protections for the use of artificial intelligence supported by Department funding and the reduction or mitigation of instances of unintended bias in artificial intelligence algorithms. ######
(iv)To identify, monitor, and periodically update appropriate recommendations for the operational use of artificial intelligence. ######
(v)To review, to the extent the head of the Council considers necessary, artificial intelligence program funding, to ensure that any investment by the Department in an artificial intelligence tool, system, or algorithm adheres to each applicable policy of the Department relating to artificial intelligence. ######
(vi)To provide periodic status updates on the efforts of the Department to develop and implement artificial intelligence into existing Department programs and processes. ######
(vii)To issue guidance on access and distribution restrictions relating to data, models, tool sets, or testing or validation infrastructure. ######
(viii)To implement and oversee an educational program on data and artificial intelligence, for the purpose of familiarizing personnel Department-wide on the applications of artificial intelligence within the respective operations of such personnel. ######
(ix)To implement and oversee a scorecard to assess data decrees of the Department. ######
(x)With respect to artificial intelligence models and advanced artificial intelligence technologies— ######
(I)to identify and assess artificial intelligence models and advanced artificial intelligence technologies that could pose a national security risk if accessed by an adversary of the United States; ######
(II)to develop strategies to prevent unauthorized access and usage of potent artificial intelligence models by countries that are adversaries of the United States; and ######
(III)to make recommendations to Congress and relevant Federal agencies for legislative or administrative action in the field of artificial intelligence. ######
(xi)Such other duties as the Council determines appropriate. #####
(F)Periodic reports Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, and not less frequently than once every 18 months thereafter, the Council shall submit to the Secretary and the congressional defense committees a report on the activities of the Council during the period covered by the report. ###
(e)Access to Information Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the William M.
(Mac)Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, the Secretary of Defense shall issue regulations to ensure that the official designated under subsection
(b)has access to such information on programs and activities of the military departments and other Defense Agencies as the Secretary considers appropriate to carry out the duties set forth in subsection (d). At a minimum, such access shall ensure that the official designated under subsection
(b)has the ability to discover, access, share, and appropriately reuse data and models of the Armed Forces and other organizations and elements of the Department of Defense, build and maintain artificial intelligence capabilities for the Department, and execute the duties assigned to the Director by the Secretary. ###
(f)Delineation of Definition of Artificial Intelligence Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall delineate a definition of the term “artificial intelligence” for use within the Department. ###
(g)Artificial Intelligence Defined In this section, the term “artificial intelligence” includes the following: ####
(1)Any artificial system that performs tasks under varying and unpredictable circumstances without significant human oversight, or that can learn from experience and improve performance when exposed to data sets. ####
(2)An artificial system developed in computer software, physical hardware, or other context that solves tasks requiring human-like perception, cognition, planning, learning, communication, or physical action. ####
(3)An artificial system designed to think or act like a human, including cognitive architectures and neural networks. ####
(4)A set of techniques, including machine learning, that is designed to approximate a cognitive task. ####
(5)An artificial system designed to act rationally, including an intelligent software agent or embodied robot that achieves goals using perception, planning, reasoning, learning, communicating, decision making, and acting. ## Subtitle C Reports and Other Matters