Army to Use Trusted AI Technologies Demonstrated at xTech Competition

The U.S. Army is planning to adopt select artificial intelligence solutions demonstrated during the 100-day xTechScalable AI 2 competition, which will conclude in the summer.

In collaboration with the Army’s Small Business Innovation Research program, the competition will award up to $603,000 in cash prizes and provide qualified small businesses the opportunity to secure a Phase I or Phase II Army SBIR contract worth up to $2 million to improve their technologies, Army .mil reported.

The competition, focused on automated AI risk management and robust testing and evaluation of AI, aims to inform the #DefendAI effort, an initiative to develop an AI layered defense framework for addressing risks that come with third-party algorithms.

Young Bang, the principal deputy to the Army acquisition chief, a 2024 Wash100 winner and a speaker at the Potomac Officers Club’s 9th Annual Army Summit on Thursday, said #DefendAI involves collaboration with the industry and academia to support Army programs, including the Project Linchpin operational pipeline of trusted AI solutions.

The xTechScalable AI 2 competition will identify technologies that can contribute to the AI pipeline. Judging will take place in October at the Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting and Expo, where xTech will host the finals.