The final language of the annual bill that funds the US military is in. It removes provisions that would have helped ensure service members' ability to fix their own equipment. US lawmakers have removed provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act for 2026 that would have ensured military members' right to repair their own equipment. The final language of the NDAA was shared by the House Armed Services Committee on Sunday, after weeks of delays pushed the annual funding bill to the end of the year. Among a host of other language changes made as part of reconciling different versions of the legislation drafted by the Senate and the House of Representatives, two provisions focused on the right to repair--Section 836 of the Senate bill and Section 863 of the House bill--have both been removed.

A push by military contractors could alter pending legislation that would have empowered servicemembers to repair equipment. Lobbyists are pitching a subscription service instead. Right to repair provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act, which would secure funding for the US military in 2026, are likely to be struck from the final language of the bill despite enjoying broad bipartisan support, sources familiar with ongoing negotiations tell WIRED. They say that provisions in the act enabling servicemembers to repair their own equipment are likely to be removed entirely, and replaced with a data-as-a-service subscription plan that benefits defense contractors. The right to repair has become a thorny issue in the military.

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Payton May joins'Fox & Friends Weekend' and sheds light on being reunited with his former military service dog Yyacob. The Senate voted to pass the 895 billion annual defense policy bill that includes a pay raise for U.S. servicemembers and a provision that restricts transgender care. The bill passed 85 to 14, and now heads to President Biden's desk for his signature. The legislation scored a more bipartisan vote in the Senate than it did in the House, where more Democrats voted no on the legislation in protest of the transgender provisions. The bill prohibits military health care provider Tricare from paying for transgender care "that could result in sterilization" for children under 18.

The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes a heavy focus on the continued development of artificial intelligence for the military, an investment that could be pivotal in the continued competition with China. "I think there are two key areas of the NDAA that point to a great strategic direction for the United States. The first is recognizing the threat China poses in both the physical and the cognitive domain of conflict, in the cold war we are currently in with them and the hot war they may consider in the future. AI, and protecting AI is a crucial part of that strategic calculus," Christopher Alexander, the chief analytics officer of Pioneer Development Group, told Fox News Digital. Alexander's comments come after President Biden signed the Pentagon spending bill into law last month, the yearly "must pass" legislation that lays out U.S. military spending.

Tucked away in the 4,517-page annual defense bill awaiting signature is an overlooked piece of legislation on artificial intelligence (AI). It doesn't make every military weapon system autonomous or require brigades of robotic infantry. Instead, it's a sensible, 63-page plan establishing a civilian-led initiative to coordinate and accelerate investments in "trustworthy" artificial intelligence systems across the federal government. In passing this legislation, the United States Congress has demonstrated that it collectively realizes that AI will be transformative, and that urgent research and development is needed to ensure the United States remains the world leader in AI. Make no mistake, the "National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020," also dubbed as "Division E" of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), is the closest thing to a national strategy on AI from the United States to be formally endorsed by Congress.

Retired Col. Douglas MacGregor has been a vocal proponent of withdrawing from Afghanistan, Syria and South Korea; Jennifer Griffin reports. As it stands, more than 55,000 active-duty U.S. soldiers – wracked by war wounds and injuries – are deemed non-deployable. In 2018, more than half of all active-duty soldiers sustained some form of physical trauma – with over 70% diagnosed as lower extremity micro-traumatic musculoskeletal (MSK) or "overuse" injuries. And aside from the gaping hole it leaves in the defense and security arena, the medical costs related to MSK ailments across all military branches cost the U.S. taxpayer more than $575 million per year. The U.S Marines using the Sparta Science system were taken at the School of Infantry – West Training Command at MCB Camp Pendleton, California. But in a bid to solve the impasse and cut down on costs, the Department of Defense is turning to an emerging new force plate and machine learning technology – from Sparta Science – to pinpoint potential problem points to prevent future maladies, zap the attrition rate and increase physical readiness.

Much of the tech industry's focus on the National Defense Authorization Act has revolved around President Trump's threat to veto the must-pass defense spending bill because it does not repeal Section 230. But the final version of the NDAA, passed by a vast majority of both chambers this week, contains a little-noticed provision that promises to reverberate across the industry: a pledge to increase government spending on artificial intelligence, quantum computing and 5G technology by $10 billion annually over the next five years. It's unclear exactly how much the government spends to bolster those technologies today, but it's likely closer to $1.5 billion. The Industries of the Future Act of 2020, which was supported by IBM and software industry trade group BSA, was introduced earlier this year amid a broader push from the White House -- and Ivanka Trump -- to invest more government resources in "industries of the future," meaning emerging technologies like quantum computing and artificial intelligence. It's part of a broader effort to funnel more resources toward ensuring the U.S. has a leg up on China in the so-called "race" to technological dominance.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) conference report includes provisions from the Artificial Intelligence for the Armed Forces Act, which looks to bolster the military's artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. "The complexity of 21st-century warfare requires that our armed forces be both technically skilled and proficient with their weapons," U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), co-chair of the Senate Artificial Intelligence Caucus, said. "I am glad to see that the FY 2021 NDAA conference report takes important steps towards that goal by implementing parts of my bipartisan Artificial Intelligence for the Armed Forces Act, which includes a number of key recommendations by the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. These policy changes will help our military attract top AI talent and improve our military's effectiveness with respect to AI decision-making." Portman had introduced the Artificial Intelligence for the Armed Forces Act, from which the NDAA provisions originate.

The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence called for the creation of two new talent initiatives that would help "fundamentally re-imagine" the way the federal government builds its digital workforce in Congressional testimony Tuesday. Members of the NSCAI, led by Eric Schmidt, former chief executive officer of Google, provided an interim review of the commission's work in testimony to a House Armed Services subcommittee Tuesday. In addition to urging lawmakers to legislate the U.S. Digital Service Academy and National Reserve Digital Corps workforce initiatives, NSCAI outlined provisions in five areas included in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act the commission views as "crucial." But it was Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who brought the hearing down to earth. The former intelligence analyst and Defense Department official asked NSCAI commissioners a pointed question: How can DOD turn the commission's ambitious dreams into realities?

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. The Senate on Tuesday rejected a bipartisan proposal to curtail the transfer of military-grade weapons and gear to local police departments. Senators voted 51-49 on the proposal, falling short of the 60 votes needed to pass. Spearheaded by Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) proposed limiting tracked combat vehicles, armed drones, grenade launchers and tear gas to local police departments across the U.S. U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, left, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., attend a news conference on defunding military projects to pay for the border wall on Capitol Hill.