The Pentagon Hopes to Speed Up ‘Kill Chain’ AI Buys With 5-Minute Videos
Source: Wired ·
The US government’s Tradewinds initiative has made it easier to throw millions of dollars at “nontraditional” defense contractors, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.
From the source
An under-the-radar procurement program led by the Department of Defense has been granting special statuses to would-be defense contractors that make it easier for the government to quickly purchase their AI offerings, based on product videos that must be no longer than five minutes. It’s part of the Pentagon’s desperate bid to inject competition in a market the United States military itself destroyed. The initiative, known as Tradewinds , is managed by DoD’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO.) Companies can submit videos describing how their AI products address one of several different “strategic focus areas” that the government periodically updates. At least once a month, a panel of judges review submissions and decide whether to accept them into the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace, where the videos can then be viewed by government officials. If accepted, the pitched products are considered “post-competitive.” Many procurement regulations include competitive…