Updated Contracts

Federal judge blocks USAID leave notices and reinstates workers

Attorneys representing the Trump administration confirmed Friday that upwards of 2,200 employees, many of whom are stationed overseas, would have been put on administrative leave Friday night, absent the court’s intervention.

Contracts

Musk’s DOGE efforts pose a ‘constitutional crisis,’ experts warn

Elon Musk has spent the first two weeks of the Trump administration parachuting into government offices, leaving extensive — and some say legally prohibited — changes in his wake.

Companies

Industry launches $100B AI-infrastructure effort to keep ahead of China

Oracle, OpenAI focus on data centers as AI race begins to turn on computing power instead of math.

Contracts

Trump axes Biden’s AI executive order

President Donald Trump vowed to repeal the order during campaigning and in his presidential platform.

Companies

Space companies say cyber threat intelligence is often overclassified, unactionable

Space and aerospace industry feedback from a series of government-run workshops noted that such threat intelligence is difficult to translate into actionable cyber efforts.

Contracts

Biden signs executive order inspired by lessons from recent cyberattacks

The order gives CISA more eyes to hunt cyber threats on government networks and directs agencies and contractors to be more transparent about the security of their software stockpiles.

Contracts

Biden orders federal land to be leased for AI data center development

The executive action will leverage federally protected lands to develop data centers capable of supporting AI software, with a priority on incorporating clean energy sources.

Companies

White House leads public-private commitment to curb AI-based sexually abusive material

Leading private sector companies signed voluntary agreements with the White House to train and monitor their AI models to avoid such misuse.

Contracts

Biden looks to preserve tech, cyber legacy with veto threat

Experts see continuity in tech policy from the Biden administration to a possible Kamala Harris presidency, with possible divergence on some national security and antitrust issues.

Contracts

White House to issue 'broad' executive order addressing AI risks and standards

Top science advisor Arati Prabhakar said the forthcoming executive order will address a wide swath of potential AI dangers.

Contracts

Biden’s State of the Union highlights semiconductor success and big tech privacy concerns

The president applauded the CHIPS and Science Act and urged lawmakers to crack down on big tech’s data privacy and surveillance practices.

Companies

Here’s what the contracting community thinks of the new proposed rule on climate reporting  

The proposed rule is part of the Biden administration’s larger environmental agenda, but it comes with costs for contractors. 

Contracts

OMB: new acquisition rule coming for vendors to vouch for their software security

Agencies are also allowed to accept to-do lists from vendors who need to keep working up to a point where they can self-attest their compliance with NIST guidance.

Contracts

White House team unveils new recommendations for U.S. semiconductor industry growth

The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology introduced new advice to help successfully implement the CHIPS Act and develop an advanced U.S. semiconductor market.

Contracts

A new regulation will bolster procurement for tribal businesses

The Interior Department’s final rule advances the president’s executive order on equity.

Companies

White House order covers contractor pay equity

The Biden administration issued an executive order on Tuesday calling on the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council to create new regulations around the use of past compensation in employment decisions.

Lockheed Martin will not give sequestration notice of mass layoffs

Contractors are not required to give advance notice of mass layoffs or facility closures before sequestration kicks in, with such costs being deemed allowable by the White House's recent guidance.

Obama signs Sequestration Transparency Act

A new measure requires the Obama administration to provide to Congress detailed plans for the forced budget cuts that sequestration will bring.

Partisan fighing mars sequestration hearing

As a hearing intended to help prepare for the effects of sequestration degenerates into a partisan shouting match, one embarrassed congressman calls the event a 'spectacle.'

Inside Obama's digital strategy

The government's push for more mobile access to information will impact devices, policies and infrastructures, but will it be good for business?