The US Department of Defense (DOD) is significantly increasing its spending on artificial intelligence (AI), awarding nearly 323 companies contracts worth around $670 million in the past two years. This represents a 20% increase from 2021 and 2022, as measured by both the number of companies working with the DOD and the total value of the contracts.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is also investing in AI, awarding around $22 million in contracts to 20 companies in 2022 and 2023. This represents more than triple what the DHS spent in the prior two-year period.
The largest DOD contract for AI development since fiscal year 2023 is worth $117 million and has grown beyond the initial award amount to $174 million. Another major contract went to Palantir, valued at $91 million, to test an end-to-end approach to artificial intelligence for defense cases.
The DOD has over 80 active contracts with various companies and entities for AI work, including projects related to generative AI. If all of these additional contracts are paid out, the department will spend well in excess of $1 billion on hundreds of AI projects by next year.
A number of well-known tech contractors, such as Palantir and Scale AI, are working with the DOD on AI projects. The largest DHS contract was worth around $4 million for marketing and AI services for the US Coast Guard.
These investments reflect the growing importance of AI in national security and defense efforts.
Source: https://fortune.com/2024/10/14/us-dod-dhs-700-million-ai-projects-past-two-years-increase-since-chatgpt-launch/