Response to the DOD RFI on Defense Industrial Base Adoption of Artificial Intelligence for Defense Applications
IAPS submitted a response to the Department of Defense’s request for information on the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) adoption of artificial intelligence for defense applications. IAPS’ comment focused on testing, evaluation, validation, and verification (TEVV), R&D, and information-sharing policies to ensure that AI systems acquired via the DIB meet DOD’s high robustness and security requirements, particularly for dual-use foundation models (DUFMs).
Our recommendations were:
The Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, and the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation should co-chair a cross-functional team (CFT) for the DOD-wide TEVV of DUFMs acquired via the Defense Industrial Base.
The CFT should develop and oversee the implementation of DOD-wide TEVV standards for DUFMs and DUFM-based systems acquired via the DIB. These standards should cover robustness, security, and transparency.
The CFT should coordinate DOD R&D investments into defense-relevant DUFM TEVV tools that are currently neglected by industry. Investments should come from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Test Resource Management Center (TRMC), and the service labs.
DOD should draw on the DUFM-related expertise of the US AI Safety Institute for collaboration and information-sharing purposes. This process could entail: incorporating USAISI officials into the CFT; notifying USAISI in the event that TEVV finds particular security or robustness threats; and including USAISI officials in relevant fora for Vulnerabilities Equities Process (VEP) deliberation.
See the full response here.