National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, Section 1086 ("Framework for reforming technology transfer and foreign disclosure policies")

• 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.

• AI system security vulnerabilities
• Cyberattacks, weapon development or use
• Competitive dynamics
• Governance failure

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document has minimal coverage of AI risk domains, with limited focus on competitive dynamics (6.4) and governance failure (6.5). The document primarily addresses technology transfer policies and does not substantially engage with specific AI risks such as discrimination, privacy breaches, misinformation, or AI system safety failures.

Sector coverage

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

• National Security

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

• Scientific Research & Development Services

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document primarily governs the National Security sector, specifically addressing technology transfer and foreign disclosure policies for defense technologies including AI. It also has implications for the Scientific Research and Development Services sector through its coverage of defense contractors and nontraditional defense contractors developing emerging technologies.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding legislative provision enacted by the United States Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, containing mandatory obligations with specific timelines and enforcement through congressional oversight and reporting requirements.

Actors

Proposer

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

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor, AI_Developer
• Entities: Secretary of Defense; military departments; Defense Technology Security Administration; technology security and foreign disclosure committees; Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment; defense industry; nontraditional defense contractors
• Summary: The document applies to the Secretary of Defense and military departments who must revise technology transfer policies. It also targets defense industry stakeholders including nontraditional defense contractors who develop emerging technologies like AI for defense applications.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Secretary of Defense; congressional defense committees
• Summary: The Secretary of Defense is responsible for implementing the framework and directing military departments to revise policies. Congressional defense committees enforce compliance through mandatory reporting requirements.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Secretary of Defense; congressional defense committees; military departments
• Summary: The Secretary of Defense must conduct annual audits of license denials and submit annual reports to congressional defense committees. The framework includes metrics to evaluate effectiveness of technology transfer policies.

AI Lifecycle Stages

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

• Plan and Design
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document primarily addresses the Deploy and Operate and Monitor stages of the AI lifecycle, focusing on technology transfer policies and foreign disclosure processes for advanced defense technologies including AI. It does not substantially cover earlier stages like data collection, model building, or verification.

Technical Scope

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

No technical scope terms identified.

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly mentions artificial intelligence as one of several emerging and advanced defense technologies subject to technology transfer and foreign disclosure policies. It does not define AI models, AI systems, or distinguish between different types of AI. No compute thresholds or specific AI technical categories are mentioned.