AI-Related Provisions in the Finalized FY 2025 NDAA

Both sides of Congress reached a $895B compromise on H.R. 5009, Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2025, with the House passing the final version of the bill on December 11th. The FY 2025 NDAA is now headed to the Senate for vote.

The primary purpose of the annual NDAA is to authorize DOD budget and expenditures as well as establish defense policies and procedures. More often than not, federal-wide technology policies and legislation are incorporated into the NDAA.

The FY 2025 has undergone months of deliberation and amendments to both the House and Senate drafts of the bill.  Previous AI provisions that made it to the final NDAA include implementing an AI pilot program toward biotechnology applications for national security (Sec. 236). Moreover, the finalized NDAA continues to provide provisions for AI pilot programs in certain workflow and operational tasks at the DOD such as depots, shipyards or other manufacturing facilities (Sec. 237). Senate amendments that required the establishment of an AI Security Center within NSA’s Cybersecurity Collaboration Center has also held in the finalized version of the bill (Sec. 6504). Below are additional AI provisions in the finalized NDAA that were not in previous drafts or amendments of the legislation.

• Sec. 221. Creates a Chief Digital Engineering Recruitment and Management Officer to identify and clarify the roles and responsibilities of the DOD AI workforce, including creating a qualification program for AI workforce roles.
• Sec. 222. Develops a set of educational courses on AI/ML, including responsible and ethical development, acquisition, deployment and use of AI.
• Sec. 1007. Directs the use of AI to facilitate DOD financial statement audits.
• Sec. 1531. Establishes an initiative to improve human usability of AI systems and AI-derived information to ensure cognitive effectiveness of AI systems.
• Sec. 1532. Expands DOD HPC infrastructure to support advanced AI capabilities through commercial or hybrid-cloud environments, particularly in military applications with multiple data formats.
• Sec. 1533. Requires cost budgeting for AI data.
• Sec. 1534. Evaluates the feasibility of creating a center or centers of excellence for AI-enabled weapons systems.

The next administration is expected to support a higher budget for national security. Moreover, the previous Trump administration promoted emerging technologies, especially AI-driven weapons systems. The incoming administration will also continue support for innovation in AI while easing regulations on critical technologies. Given this, many of the provisions in the finalized NDAA are not expected to be impacted by the second Trump term.