U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) introduced legislation Thursday that would create a U.S.-Israel Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Center to further collaborate in AI and contribute to the field's advancement. Specifically, the bill directs the U.S. Secretary of State to establish a joint U.S.-Israel AI Center in the United States to serve as a hub for research and development in AI across the public, private, and education sectors in both nations. "America, and the world, benefit immensely when we engage in joint cooperation and partnerships with Israel, a global technology leader and our most important ally in the Middle East," said Rubio, the Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. "I'm proud to lead this legislation to build on current, highly successful bilateral research ties between the U.S. and Israel, as well as help both nations stay ahead of China's ever-growing technology threat." The Senators said the bill would enable America to maintain its technological edge and enhance its competitiveness while leveraging the innovation advantages of its allies.

Air Force officials said the recent release of the branch's Artificial Intelligence Strategy emphasizes the importance of artificial intelligence capabilities to 21st-century missions. "The Air Force is charged to provide the nation with Air and Space Superiority, Global Strike, Rapid Global Mobility, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and Command Control," Matthew Donovan, acting secretary of the Air Force, and Air Force Chief of Staff General David Goldfein said in the dual-signed annex. "Al is a capability that will underpin our ability to compete, deter, and win across all five of these diverse missions. It is crucial to fielding tomorrow's Air Force faster and smarter, executing multi-domain operations in the high-end fight, confronting threats below the level of open conflict, and partnering with our allies around the globe." The effort provides definition, context, and purpose for artificial intelligence in the Air Force and is the annex to the Department of Defense Artificial Intelligence Strategy.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded a contract of up to $4.7 million to BAE Systems to integrate machine learning (ML) into platforms deciphering radio frequency signals. Officials said the Controllable Hardware Integration for Machine-learning Enabled Real-time Adaptivity (CHIMERA) program provides a reconfigurable hardware platform for ML algorithm developers to make sense of radio frequency (RF) signals in increasingly crowded electromagnetic spectrum environments. "CHIMERA brings the flexibility of a software solution to hardware," said Dave Logan, vice president and general manager of Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) Systems at BAE Systems. "Machine-learning is on the verge of revolutionizing signals intelligence technology, just as it has in other industries." CHIMERA will enable ML software development to adapt the hardware's Radio Frequency (RF) configuration in real-time to optimize mission performance, officials said, adding the capability has never before been available in a hardware solution, with the system providing multiple control surfaces for the user, enabling on-the-fly performance trade-offs maximizing sensitivity, selectivity and scalability depending on mission need.

The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) recently announced its Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) program, which is designed to ensure the nation maintains an advantage within the realm of artificial intelligence (AI). DARPA officials said the initiative serves as a critical component of the agency's broader AI investment strategy. The program will constitute a series of unique funding opportunities using streamlined contracting procedures and funding mechanisms to achieve a start date within three months of an opportunity announcement. AIE is an agency-wide program based on the successful "Disruptioneering" fast-tracked solicitation process pioneered by DARPA's Defense Science Office, supporting a variety of technology development concepts. "DARPA has established a streamlined process to push the state of the art in AI through regular and relatively short-term technology development projects," DARPA Deputy Director Peter Highnam said.

The United States and Canada launched last week an initiative designed to explore the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and situational awareness technologies during critical incidents. Officials representing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and Canada's Defence Research and Development Canada Centre for Security Science (DRDC CSS) said the effort stems from a desire to ensure next generation first responders are better connected, protected and fully aware during emergencies. "Canadian and American responders have very similar requirements," John Merrill, DHS S&T's director of the Next Generation First Responder Apex Program, said. "By jointly determining research and development priorities between the two countries, we can reach our goal faster and more efficiently, eliminating duplication of effort and optimizing funding." Over the course of the next two years, the countries will collaborate on new research and development projects, hold joint workshops and field experiments and share best practices and lessons learned to ensure the safety and effectiveness of first responders and the public.