Instructs the Secretary of Defense to measure, track and reward programming, coding and artificial intelligence proficiency amongst armed forces and civilian employees of the Department of Defense.
Analysis summaries, actor details, and coverage mappings were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
This is a binding federal statute enacted by the U.S. Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, with mandatory obligations on the Secretary of Defense and explicit authority to create special pay provisions codified in the United States Code.
This document has minimal to no coverage of AI risk domains. It focuses on workforce development and competency measurement rather than AI risk mitigation. No risk subdomains receive substantive coverage.
This document exclusively governs the National Security sector, specifically the Department of Defense and related federal national security agencies. It mandates AI and programming competency testing, tracking, and incentive systems for military and civilian personnel within these organizations.
The document does not directly address AI system development lifecycle stages. Instead, it focuses on measuring and incentivizing human competency in programming and AI skills within the Department of Defense workforce. It addresses the operational context in which AI tools are used by personnel but does not govern the lifecycle of AI systems themselves.
The document mentions machine learning tools and artificial intelligence competency but does not define or distinguish between AI models, AI systems, or specific types of AI. It focuses on human proficiency in using AI tools rather than governing AI systems themselves. No compute thresholds or model types are specified.
United States Congress
The document is a section of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which is federal legislation enacted by the United States Congress.
Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of Defense is designated as the primary authority responsible for implementing the provisions, including carrying out activities, prescribing regulations, and administering the special pay system.
Secretary of Defense; Department of Defense recordkeeping systems
The Secretary of Defense is responsible for monitoring through updated recordkeeping systems that track AI and programming certification testing results, comparable to foreign language competency tracking systems.
Department of Defense; members of the Armed Forces; civilian employees of the Department of Defense; Secretary of Homeland Security; Attorney General; Director of National Intelligence; intelligence community organizations
The legislation applies to the Department of Defense and its personnel (both military and civilian), requiring them to undergo AI and programming competency testing. It also encourages other Federal national security agencies to implement comparable systems.