National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, Section 227 ("Modification of the joint common foundation program")

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: NDAA provisions;U.S. federal laws
• Most recent activity: Enacted
• Most recent activity date: 2021-12-27

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
• Competitive dynamics

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

This document has minimal to no coverage of AI risk domains. It is a procurement and contracting reform measure focused on streamlining access to commercial AI platforms for DoD components. It does not address AI risks, harms, safety measures, or risk mitigation strategies.

Sector coverage

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

• National Security

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document exclusively governs AI use within the National Security sector, specifically addressing Department of Defense procurement and deployment of commercial AI technologies. It does not regulate commercial AI companies themselves but rather governs how DoD components contract with and utilize commercial AI platforms.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding statutory provision enacted by the U.S. Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022. It contains mandatory obligations on the Secretary of Defense using 'shall' language throughout, with specific requirements and a reporting deadline.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress
• Summary: The document is Section 227 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, which is enacted by the United States Congress. Congress has constitutional authority to legislate on defense matters and appropriations.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor, AI_Developer, AI_Deployer
• Entities: Secretary of Defense; Department of Defense components; Joint Artificial Intelligence Center; commercial artificial intelligence companies
• Summary: The document directly targets the Secretary of Defense with mandatory obligations to modify programs and processes. It also applies to DoD components that will use the modified Joint Common Foundation program and to commercial AI companies that will be eligible to provide support under the new framework.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Congressional defense committees; United States Congress
• Summary: The congressional defense committees serve as the enforcement mechanism through oversight authority, requiring a briefing within 120 days. Congress maintains enforcement authority through its appropriations and oversight powers over the Department of Defense.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Congressional defense committees
• Summary: The congressional defense committees are explicitly designated to receive briefings on implementation, establishing them as the monitoring body for compliance with this section's requirements.

AI Lifecycle Stages

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

• Plan and Design
• Collect and Process Data
• Build and Use Model
• Verify and Validate
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document primarily addresses the Deploy stage by facilitating easier contracting and deployment of commercial AI platforms to DoD components. It also covers Build and Use Model by enabling access to development platforms and tools, and touches on Operate and Monitor through references to continuous delivery and operational use of AI applications.

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 applications,' 'artificial intelligence companies,' and 'artificial intelligence technologies and capabilities' throughout. It does not distinguish between different types of AI (frontier, general purpose, task-specific, etc.) or specify compute thresholds. The focus is on commercial AI platforms, services, applications, and tools broadly.