National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, Section 1234 ("Research, development, test, and evaluation of emerging technologies to further the warfighting capabilities of the United States and certain partner countries")

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: NDAA provisions;U.S. federal laws;FY2026 NDAA
• Most recent activity: Enacted
• Most recent activity date: 2025-12-18

Risk subdomain coverage

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• Compromise of privacy
• AI system security vulnerabilities
• Disinformation, surveillance, and influence at scale
• Cyberattacks, weapon development or use
• Competitive dynamics
• Governance failure
• AI possessing dangerous capabilities

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document has minimal coverage of risk domains, with primary focus on security vulnerabilities (2.2), malicious actors (4.1, 4.2), competitive dynamics (6.4), and governance failure (6.5). Coverage is concentrated in security, export control, and international cooperation contexts related to defense technology development.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Scientific Research & Development Services
• National Security

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Professional & Technical Services

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document primarily governs the National Security sector through defense technology research and development activities. It also has implications for Scientific Research and Development Services and Professional and Technical Services sectors involved in defense-related emerging technology development.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding legislative instrument enacted by the United States Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, with mandatory language, enforcement mechanisms, and legal obligations on the Secretary of Defense.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: The document is a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, which is proposed and enacted by the United States Congress as indicated by the title and legislative format.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor, AI_Developer
• Summary: The document explicitly targets the Secretary of Defense and the Department of Defense, specifically designating the Irregular Warfare Technology Support Directorate as the lead agency. It also applies to covered partner countries engaging in joint research and development activities.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: The document establishes enforcement through congressional oversight requiring reports and consultation among multiple government officials. Export control regulations provide additional enforcement mechanisms.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: The document establishes monitoring through mandatory semiannual reporting requirements to congressional committees, with the Secretary of Defense responsible for submitting reports on expenditures and activities.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Plan and Design
• Build and Use Model
• Verify and Validate
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document primarily covers the Plan and Design, Build and Use Model, and Operate and Monitor stages of the AI lifecycle. It focuses on the research, development, test, and evaluation of emerging AI technologies for defense applications, with emphasis on security safeguards and ongoing monitoring through reporting requirements.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

• Open Weight / Open Source

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly mentions emerging technologies including artificial intelligence but does not define AI models, AI systems, or specify particular types of AI. It does not reference frontier AI, general purpose AI, foundation models, generative AI, predictive AI, open-weight models, or compute thresholds. The focus is on defense technology development broadly.