All of the AI provisions in the mammoth defense bill, compiled and summarized
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This year's National Defense Authorization Act has cleared Congress on its way to the White House, full of provisions large and small on AI and national security. Luckily, there's no need to wade through all 300,000+ words of the final text to pick out the AI bits - they're all available today in AGORA, our new tracker for AI-relevant laws, regulations, standards, and other governance documents from the United States and around the world.
To browse summaries and full text for all the AI provisions, just open AGORA's new 2025 NDAA collection. Here's a quick section-by-section breakdown with links to full text in AGORA. (This list doesn't include procurement line items for AI programs - just substantive textual provisions that address AI. Read more about AGORA's scope.)
- Section 125 ("Designation of official responsible for autonomous surface and underwater dual-modality vehicles"): Requires the Secretary of the Navy to designate an official responsible for developing and acquiring advanced autonomous vehicles. Requires a dedicated program element within Navy budgets for these vehicles' development and acquisition.
- Section 221 ("Improvements relating to defining, identifying, and planning the artificial intelligence workforce of the Department of Defense"): Requires appointment of a DOD Chief Digital Engineering Recruitment and Management Officer.
- Section 222 ("Modification to artificial intelligence education strategy"): Requires the development of AI and machine learning distance education courses for Armed Forces members.
- Section 225 ("Duties of Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer Governing Council relating to artificial intelligence models and advanced artificial intelligence technologies"): Amends the duties of the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer Governing Council to assess AI models for national security risks, develop strategies against unauthorized access by adversaries, and recommend legislative or administrative actions on AI to Congress and agencies.
- Section 232 ("Expansion of participation in the Digital On-Demand Program"): Requires the Secretary of Defense to expand and promote the Digital On-Demand education program across the Department of Defense.
- Section 233 ("Management and utilization of digital data to enhance maintenance activities"): Requires development policies to leverage DOD operational data for military maintenance using AI and automated systems.
- Section 235 ("Competitive demonstration of automated target recognition algorithms"): Requires the Chief Digital and AI Officer to develop a venue and testing processes for comparing automated target recognition algorithms by June 1, 2025. Mandates testing of Replicator algorithms by September 1, 2025.
- Section 236 ("Pilot program on development of near-term use cases and demonstration of artificial intelligence toward biotechnology applications for national security"): Requires the Secretary of Defense to conduct a pilot program for developing AI for national security biotechnology applications through public-private partnerships.
- Section 237 ("Pilot program on use of artificial intelligence for certain workflow and operations tasks"): Requires the Secretary of Defense to initiate a pilot program using AI-enabled software to optimize specified Department of Defense workflows and operations tasks.
- Section 1007 ("Use of technology using artificial intelligence to facilitate audit of the financial statements of the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2025"): Encourages the use of AI and machine learning to facilitate Department of Defense financial audits.
- Section 1031 ("Requirements for the unmanned maritime autonomy architecture"): Imposes various conditions on the Navy's development of open systems architecture for maritime unmanned systems, covering governance, industry involvement, and other topics.
- Section 1032 ("Competitive demonstration of large and extra large unmanned underwater vehicles"): Requires the Navy to demonstrate large and extra large unmanned underwater vehicles by June 2025 and conduct related assessments.
- Section 1066 ("Reports on approval and deployment of lethal autonomous weapon systems"): Require the Secretary of Defense to submit annual reports on DOD approvals and deployments of lethal autonomous weapon systems to the congressional defense committees.
- Section 1069 ("Biodefense posture reviews"): Requires a review of methods to protect against biological attacks using AI and related topics.
- Section 1078 ("Study and report on Department of Defense use of unmanned ground vehicle systems manufactured by certain foreign entities"): Requires the Secretary of Defense to study and report on the use of unmanned ground vehicle systems produced by specified foreign adversaries, and prohibits procuring the systems if a national security threat is found.
- Section 1087 ("Establishment of Department of Defense working group on multilateral artificial intelligence coordination"): Establishes a Department of Defense working group to coordinate AI initiatives with allies.
- Section 1514 ("Management and cybersecurity of multi-cloud environments"): Requires the Department of Defense to develop a multi-cloud strategy with consideration for AI applications and protection of DOD data used to train AI.
- Section 1515 ("Protective measures for mobile devices within the Department of Defense"): Orders an evaluation of potential protective measures for mobile devices within the Department of Defense, including defenses against AI-driven smishing and phishing.
- Section 1547 ("Joint partner-sharing network capabilities for Middle East defense integration"): Requires the establishment of a warfighter forum for AI within combatant commands to enhance coordination on AI tools and training.
- Section 1638 ("Sense of Congress with respect to use of artificial intelligence to support strategic deterrence"): Declares that it is the policy of the United States to ensure AI use does not undermine nuclear safeguards or the principle of human decision-making with respect to the use of nuclear weapons.
- Section 6504 ("Establishment of Artificial Intelligence Security Center"): Establishes the Artificial Intelligence Security Center within the NSA to develop guidance against counter-AI techniques and promote secure AI practices.
- Section 6506 ("Enhancement of authority for intelligence community public-private talent exchanges"): Amends the Intelligence Authorization Act to enhance intelligence community-private sector exchanges, focusing on fields like AI.
- Title XV, Subtitle D ("Artificial Intelligence"): Establishes an "Artificial Intelligence Human Factors Integration Initiative" to enhance AI usability and cognitive ergonomics in the Department of Defense. Instructs the DOD to develop high-performance AI systems for military applications and supporting computing and testing infrastructure. Requires AI budgeting plans and evaluation of potential AI-enabled weapon systems centers of excellence.
You can also visit AGORA's broader NDAA collection for all AI-related provisions from the past several years' NDAAs (including this year's). Try a keyword search across the collection for topics that interest you - how about AI and education or AI and aircraft?
As always, we're glad to help you get the most out of AGORA or any of our our other tools - visit the ETO support hub to contact us, book live support with an ETO staff member or access the latest documentation for our tools and data. 🤖