Portman, Bennet Introduce Amendment to Strengthen Military's AI Capabilities

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), co-founder of the Senate Artificial Intelligence Caucus, and Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) introduced an amendment to the FY21 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to require the Department of Defense to report to Congress on ways to strengthen ties between the Joint AI Center and each of the military services.

"It is essential that we endow our armed forces with the technical skill and proficiency necessary to take full advantage of next generation capabilities like artificial intelligence." said Portman. "This amendment to the NDAA would take important steps towards that goal by facilitating stronger civilian cooperation with DoD while also sending a clear message that Congress is serious about leadership in the field of AI."

"For the Department of Defense to successfully incorporate artificial intelligence at all levels of our national security strategy, the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center must reflect the full makeup of our Armed Forces," said Bennet. "This amendment would direct the Department of Defense to considers expanding its personnel base to strengthen ties to the warfighter and the needs of the services."

NOTE: Last week, Portman introduced the Artificial Intelligence for the Armed Forces Act which will strengthen the Department of Defense's artificial intelligence (AI) capacity by increasing the number of AI and cyber professionals in the department. As co-founder and co-chair of the Senate Artificial Intelligence Caucus, Portman has helped lead efforts in the Senate on this issue, and has worked in a bipartisan manner on several key measures to set high-quality standards around emerging technology, including cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

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