The Senate-passed national defense appropriations bill (H.R.5515, as amended), to be known as the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, includes spending provisions for several artificial intelligence technology programs.

Passed by a vote of 85-10 on June 18, 2018, the bill would include appropriations for the Department of Defense “to coordinate the efforts of the Department to develop, mature, and transition artificial intelligence technologies into operational use.” A designated Coordinator will serve to oversee joint activities of the services in the development of a Strategic Plan for AI-related research and development.  The Coordinator will also facilitate the acceleration of development and fielding of AI technologies across the services.  Notably, the Coordinator is to develop appropriate ethical, legal, and other policies governing the development and use of AI-enabled systems in operational situations. Within one year of enactment, the Coordinator is to complete a study on the future of AI in the context of DOD missions, including recommendations for integrating “the strengths and reliability of artificial intelligence and machine learning with the inductive reasoning power of a human.”

In other provisions, the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA; based in Ft. Meade, MD) is tasked with submitting a report to Congress within 90 days of enactment that directly compares the capabilities of the US in emerging technologies (including AI) and the capabilities of US adversaries in those technologies.

The bill would require the Under Secretary for R&D to pilot the use of machine-vision technologies to automate certain human weapons systems manufacturing tasks. Specifically, tests would be conducted to assess whether computer vision technology is effective and at a level of readiness to perform the function of determining the authenticity of microelectronic parts at the time of creation through final insertion into weapon systems.

The Senate version of the 2019 appropriations bill replaces an earlier House version (passed 351-66 on May 24, 2018).