▶ 0:22:07If everybody's willing, we thought we'd start a little early because we have votes, but somewhere between 9:15 and 9:30 and uh so we like to make sure we hear the comments from both of our people testifying today. Uh the ranking member and I look forward to hearing from you. I got to tell you, both are so important. Information technology, artificial intelligence, we can't fall behind.
▶ 0:22:27I mean, I I was trying to explain to some folks back home, they go, "Why is AI so important?" They go, "Well, if you if you're way ahead of AI and you have quantum computing, you can break codes real easily." I mean, so if the other side has it, it puts our communications at risk. We map the world multiple times over. AI can help us decipher what what things are moving, you know, left or right. Where where where's the aircraft at here? What ships are in and out of harbor? Just that fast. And so, it's really important that we stay ahead of AI.
▶ 0:22:56So, I appreciate hearing from you, Mr. Matty, and and Mr. Great to have you here. I could tell you I really enjoyed hearing your last time you were here about how you were trying to do the art of the possible when it comes to spectrum. Yet, you're going to protect what's important. And I I will tell you, I think the vast majority of the Armed Services Committee, I think could be all, but at least I know it's the vast majority. We want to protect that part of the spectrum that our military needs for missile defense, air defense, or whatever it may be.
▶ 0:23:24So we and you convinced us that you were really working that hard to find out what areas we can work on for for for switching it over and what we have to actually protect. So we look forward to hearing more from you. And with that I'll just I'll yield to our ranking member and my friend Mr. Connor. Thank you Mr. Chairman. I'll keep it brief because I know we have uh votes as well. I'd like to welcome Dr. Maddie and Miss uh Arrington. Thank you for appearing before the subcommittee.
▶ 0:23:51Uh we need of course IT infrastructure as a foundation for many of the systems our war fighters depend on. I look forward to hearing about your efforts on the zero trust ecosystem and the current status and future of DoD's use of cloud computing and authority to operate reform. Uh on the topic of AI, I look forward to hearing how CDAO will be helping to guide the department in their efforts to ethically and responsibly integrate AI into numerous systems.
▶ 0:24:21And with that, I want to thank again our witnesses for appearing and thank you, Mr. Chairman. With that, we yield to Miss Arrington. Good morning, Chairman Bacon. Sorry, my coffee hasn't kicked in yet. Let's start over again. Good morning, Chairman Bacon and Ranking Member Kana and distinguished members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify alongside my friend Dr.
▶ 0:24:48Maddie to whom I am truly grateful has come to the Department of Defense to progress in digital transformation. He actually has done more in 16 days than one would think humanly possible. So, thank you sir. As you know, this committee's leadership has consistently empowered the DoD CIO to build a robust and integrated architecture, ensure interoperability, and prescribe crucial network and cyber security standards.
▶ 0:25:12This authority includes oversight of the information technology and cyber security budgets across the department as it is vital for our success. We are committed to working with this committee to enhance lethality, readiness, and deterrence for our war fighters. We are actively collaborating with the Department of Government Efficiency on cost-saving initiatives.
▶ 0:25:32In response to the Secretary's mandate to eliminate wasteful spending, we are streamlining software procurement by first consulting our buyer catalog prior to customization and leveraging that to achieve DoD sta data standards across the department. The DoD and CDAO are securing AI systems and developing guidelines to manage AI specific cyber security risk.
▶ 0:25:56Ensure strategic investment and alignment and implement consistent security standards including advanced threat detection and response. Cyber security remains paramount. We are focused on identity control and access management ICAM zero trust and securing the defense industrial base.
▶ 0:26:16the Defense Information Systems Agency, otherwise known as DISA, non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network, Nipper, Federation Hub, and the DoD CIO's ICAM Federation Framework are driving enterprise adoption of ICAM. The recent mandate for financial and non-financial systems to onboard to identity providers and enable automated account provisioning will further strengthen our security posture. Our zero trust implementation is progressing at a rapid rate.
▶ 0:26:46Component implementation plans outline their paths to target zero trust by FY27. The success of flank speed, Thunderdome, and Fort Zero in achieving target or advanced ZT demonstrates the viability of our approach. We are extending this to mission partner environment, revolutionizing secure information exchange with allies and partners. And of course, protecting the DIB is a key priority.
▶ 0:27:10And the DoD is implementing the CMMC program to verify cyber security practices by the DIB to protect sensitive unclassified information. The number of self- assessments and independent assessments is encouraging and ensures industry's commitment to this crucial effort. We are moving beyond the traditional risk management framework to embrace AI powered continuous monitoring.
▶ 0:27:34This shift along with the software fasttrack initiative will accelerate software security delivery by focusing on the software supply chain and the development environmental security. The bottom line is we are here to create a culture of cyber security. That is our job. In partnership with CDAO, my office is developing supply chain risk management requirements to establish a common operating picture and improve interoperability with business systems.
▶ 0:28:02The joint warf fighting cloud capability is transforming our IT infrastructure. We are streamlining cloud contracts, reducing sprawl and focusing on edge computing to enhance operational resilience. Command control and communications are fundamental to military effectiveness and our prioritization initiatives like CJADC C2 global command control systems joint electromagnetic spectrum operations, dynamic spectrum sharing, spectrum IT modernization,
▶ 0:28:335G implementation and position navigation and timing modernization to ensure information Cryptographic modernization also remains a priority to develop the next generation of quantum resistant encryption to ensure our continued security for defense business systems. DoD is consolidating and streamlining business functions and data, retiring legacy systems and implementing data-driven portfolio management.
▶ 0:29:01This transformation will improve efficiency, enable data integration, and support informed decision-making. The DoD's CIO's annual IT budget certification process guided by the capability program guidance ensures alignment with strategic priorities. This allows the department to identify and address capability risks, working with components to ensure effective resource allocation. Finally, cultivating a digital workforce is essential to the future.
▶ 0:29:29Investments in training and education and partnerships with industry and academia ensures we have the talent necessary to meet the evolving challenges of the digital battle space. Once again, I cannot enforce enough the need for a culture of cyber security, a culture of zero trust, a culture of secure by design is one of the goals that I have as CIO as while I'm in the role. I look forward to your questions and thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. Thank you, Mr. Ericton. Dr.
▶ 0:29:57Matty, Bacon, Ranking Member Connor, distinguished members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. Today is my first appearance before Congress as the chief digital and artificial intelligence officer, and I'm glad to be alongside my teammate and our acting chief information officer to communicate our shared commitment and efforts in modernizing the dig defense digital enterprise.
▶ 0:30:24My testimony today will outline how the department is accelerating the adoption of data analytics and artificial intelligence AI. I'll highlight our key lines of effort aligned with the current DoD data analytics and AI adoption strategy and the Secretary of Defense's directives to revive the war ethos, rebuild military readiness, and reestablish deterrence through improved joint war fighting As the department recognized significant changes in the digital domain, several disparit initiatives were created like the joint
▶ 0:30:54AI center and the defense digital services. These efforts provided several key contributions, but it soon became clear that more integration across efforts was needed to achieve a digitally relevant tempo and the department combined all of them to create the CDAO. As I rejoin the department, the CDAO executes two critical congressionally required roles and authorities on behalf of the Secretary of Defense, the chief data officer and the chief AI officer.
▶ 0:31:22We do this through a traditional policy principal staff assistant role as well as through resourcing acquisition and capability delivery function. This combination of authorities and functions has allowed CDO to drive DoD adoption of data and AI, not only through policy direction, but through tangible delivery of more efficient, interoperable, and scalable enterprise data analytics and capabilities.
▶ 0:31:47We describe our approach to accelerating DoD data and AI adoption through the phases of enable, speed, and scale. We enable the DoD's adoption of data analytics and AI by establishing standards, best practices, and reusable tools to deliver capabilities directly to the DoD users. We prioritize speed by investing in the necessarily talent infrastructure to develop and field data and AI solutions on accelerated timelines.
▶ 0:32:14We plan for scale from day one, focusing on building solutions and architectures at echelon that are technically sound, secure, and work across the breadth of the DoD. CDAO accelerates capability delivery, sets the foundation for scale, and facilitates DoD adoption of digital tools by bringing in the best the commercial sector has to offer. First, we are enhancing access to authoritative data.
▶ 0:32:40Data is the fuel for analytics and AI and we are expanding access to government networks and data through our open dagger initiative and continuing to implement overall data management strategy by using principles such as vultus that is making data visible, accessible, understandable, linked, trustworthy, interoperable and secure.
▶ 0:33:00Second, we are tightly partnered with our chief information officer to address the administrative and technical hurdle hurdles that slow down the deployment of digital solutions on DoD networks and infrastructure. We do this by streamlining the authority to operate process and by expanding access to modern AI ready infrastructure like high performance compute. Third, we are removing the requirements quote man-maninthe-middle end quote by conducting frequent experiments on live networks with real DoD data.
▶ 0:33:31In experiments like our global information dominance experiment or guide, developers from industry, R&D, and government sit sidebyside with our DoD operators to better understand their workflows, hear directly about what they need to achieve their mission success. Finally, we are working to develop and source the best talent both inside and outside the department. Our workforce really is what will determine success and failure for AI enabled capabilities.
▶ 0:33:58Within the department, we are assessing and upskilling our workforce from bottom to top. We also need ways to integrate and access talent outside the department, including academia, FFRDCled research, as well as national labs and of course our industry partners. Our tradewind solution marketplace has generated real real wins and we will keep maximizing our acquisition authorities within CDAO and with other government acquisition partners to accelerate technology adoption.
▶ 0:34:26In closing, I want to emphasize the strategic significance of accelerating adoption of data analytics and AI across the department. By harnessing these tools, we are enabling our war fighters to make faster, smarter decisions. We are bolstering our readiness and we are enhancing our deterrence. All this contributes to a more lethal, resilient, and responsive military ready to meet the challenges of any threat that comes our way.
▶ 0:34:51On behalf of my team, I thank you for your leadership and prioritizing the defense digital enterprise and committed to continued transparency with Congress and our progress about challenges and our way ahead. I look forward to your questions. Thank you. Uh I intend to ask a question to each of you and then I'll yield to our ranking member. I would like to get through all of us before we get votes. So, if we could all be thoughtful about the length of our questioning and we'll try to get everybody in. My first question to Miss Harrington, why is the midspectrum like in the lower three mehertz uh why or gigahertz?
▶ 0:35:21Why is that so important? What is the military doing in this area that we can't trade off? Thank you chairman for that question. So, in the lower three of spectrum 3.1 to 3.45 45 is where we carry currently about,00 different platforms and weapon systems to protect national security. Those are are prized uh critical capabilities that we cannot lose to provide national security not just for ourselves but for our foreign military sales and our allies and partners.
▶ 0:35:50That area of the spectrum is golden and we need to protect it to maintain national security and I use the word goldm specifically because the the only way we can achieve golden dome right now is having the lower three of spectrum. It is critical for national security. I appreciate the question very much. Thank you sir. I can't tell you how important it is to us knowing that yes, there's some areas we can maybe work on with with the industry, but there's areas we cannot trade off.
▶ 0:36:17And I just know many of us on the Armed Services Committee are going to be the the best stewards we know how to protect our national security here. As I mentioned in my my opening speech, dynamic spectrum sharing is a potential capability, but that is yet to be determined. And it is I I would say prudent to ensure protection and national security for the taxpayer in protecting the lower three. Thank you Dr. Matty Id like to ask about J C Jazzy 2 C Jazzy 2.
▶ 0:36:46I understand that the previous administration put this portfolio in your under your organization. We get a lot of mixed feedback here. Where do you see CJAZY2 sitting? Is it appropriate to be within your portfolio or is it better set somewhere else? How how are we doing with this program? Thank you for the question, chairman.
▶ 0:37:08I think that um our efforts with CJCT have actually been on a good glide path and I use that to reference back to guide as as I mentioned with our experiment effort. Um there's no better way to develop these types of technologies and capabilities than by adopting the agile approach which is as I described earlier having the developers with the technical leads as well as the users so that we can rapidly integrate whatever those needs are.
▶ 0:37:35So for example, with recent um efforts that we've had in in our experiments, we've witnessed the ability to link previously unconnected data sources from the various services and components that allow them to make real-time decisions.
▶ 0:37:50And once you have the data structure, as you know, once you have that data structure as a firm foundation, you can then build on top of that to get some of these advanced algorithms that then allow you to do the types of um accelerated and and speed that we're looking for for decision- making in our efforts.
▶ 0:38:06So back to your question, I think that uh the partnership that we are able to bring together with the services, the joint uh war fighting components as well as the respective industry partners have been successful and I look to accelerate and expand that success. Thank you. With two minutes of spare, I yield to the ranking member. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dr. Matty, you have such a impressive background.
▶ 0:38:31obviously your service to our country for 30 years, but one thing I also noticed is that you're a PhD from MIT. Uh I'd love to get your take on how important MIT was for your own background and how important research universities like MIT have been for the development of AI uh in the United Thank you for the question.
▶ 0:38:58Um, so I will expl I'm sure that as you would expect um an experience and the opportunity to go to such an esteemed institution like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a phenomenal experience for for most people that have that chance. Um, I went off as I'll say as an operations research which you may be familiar as a a known functional area or level of expertise within the army.
▶ 0:39:23uh the task that I was given by the senior leaders when I went there was come back to us as an enterprise research folks. In other words, how do you take those things that we currently are able to do and scale them and accelerate them. Um and so where I see the opportunities to work with our premier institutions because it's not only just about the workforce development, the education component as you know at places like MIT, Carnegie Melon, Georgia Tech etc.
▶ 0:39:46they they are very focused on applying that technology and accelerating the adoption um into those new capabilities. And so uh you'll in the future as we continue to have these types of discussions, you'll hear me talk about the triple helix where taking the basic research combining with applied research and then scaling that in terms of our procurement with our industry partners is absolutely essential for us to move forward. And Mary, the reason I asked this is I I wish there were more people, frankly, in our government and administration like you.
▶ 0:40:16And I'm hoping your voice uh maybe emerge because as you know, currently the NSF is cutting a lot of their grants to MIT. MIT is suing the administration. Do you think that that's misguided that we should be funding the uh research universities like MIT? I mean, was it your experience that MIT was wasting money or do you think these are important institutions that make your job easier?
▶ 0:40:44As I said, I think it's important to have an appropriate balance between our academic institutions as well as our applied research efforts like FFRDCs or federally funded research development centers as well as our industry partners if we're going to cons sustain the growth that's necessary. So, if you look across the uh I'll say the strategic environment in areas like artificial intelligence, this is not just a one-time type of thing. There has to be the continual growth and and acceleration of our development.
▶ 0:41:12And I think that's what allows us to continue to have our offset uh enhancements among amongst um consideration of our peers and adversaries. I hope you'll you know I I really respect you. I think we're lucky that we have your service. So, my questions aren't uh in any way to put you on the spot, but I hope you will speak up as one of the voices in the administration uh to make sure that the funding for our research universities and NSF are bipartisan. I think they're so important uh to the uh future of this country.
▶ 0:41:42I'm done. Thank you, Mr. Conno. Uh Mr. McCormack, you you are up next. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you the witnesses for being here today. It means a lot to us and how we move forward in our deliberations and legislation. Uh Dr. Maddie, AI has become standard in the private sector. Obviously, it's making a lot of advances in the DoD. I feel like we're a little bit behind right now.
▶ 0:42:08Uh this delay has created some vulnerabilities uh both in our ability to protect our information and actually advance our weaponry down range. How are groups like the defense innovation unit making sure the DoD stays competitive in the advancement of these contracts which a lot of times get delayed and deliberated over and we I I feel like the competitive advantage the CCP has over us. They got one guy making a decision. Everybody just goes forward.
▶ 0:42:34Here we have to negotiate and there's favoritism and there's all kinds of things that delay the most efficient thing to happen. doesn't mean we're not competitive and it doesn't mean that we have we don't have better ideas, but how do we streamline this process to make sure we are the most competitive we can So, I know that my teammates over in DIU were here recently and provided some information and testimony on the successes they've had to address the issues that you highlighted.
▶ 0:43:00Um, I will tell you from our role in the CDAO, uh, we we appreciate the partnership with DIU and the efforts that they have on engaging with industry. I think that um what we're able to do together is as they focus on the speed as you mentioned before trying to overcome some of those administrative hurdles we're focused on how do we architect those solutions in such a way that they are able to scale and I think that most folks that know or are familiar with this particular technology area understand that you can design
▶ 0:43:30something uh early on that provides you to have I'll say a static framework that doesn't allow for that growth and that acceleration And that's why I think it's important that we have the various teams working together in an integrated fashion but still maintain that core competencies so that when they focus on how do we get through those uh process types of efforts that we can then apply the appropriate technological rigor so that it'll be successful in the long run from a development standpoint. Thank you.
▶ 0:44:00And actually that makes a good segue to my next question Arrington. uh we talk about integration, we talk about inefficiencies. Uh what I understand is that your responsibilities are diffused amongst more than 30 chief information officers at various DoD components in all those agencies and elements and everything like that. My my question is surely there's got to be an an opportunity to streamline this.
▶ 0:44:26What I'm worried about is you have so many people coming together and doing so many things, but how do you make sure that they're working together and that you're as lean and mean as you need to be going forward and that you're not kind of working against each other? Absolutely. Great question and thank you for asking it, sir. Uh what we have done since I've taken over the seat is we've collaborated.
▶ 0:44:45I brought all the DoD and CIO sysos together um and honesting honing in on our core requirements and making sure that the DoD interoperability is primary function for ours. So what we've done as far as like the cloud computing contracts we are now looking to the digital catalog for the software provider.
▶ 0:45:07If it is not already in the digital catalog, each and any CIO then has to come through my office to get approval to customize capability. That way, we're harmonizing our capability and interoperability instead of having disparit information stove pipes. And working with partners like Dr. Maddie, that is the way that we are going to get to where we need to be to be a lethal ready and efficient workforce by harnessing in the requirements, making sure that people can't step outside.
▶ 0:45:35And I the way I use it is outside the requirement box. Any CIO that sees themselves or SISO as a very different or unique entity within the DoD, they're going to have to come to my office and to my team, which is an entirety of of the MILDEP CIOS, and explain why they're so different. It's a way to collaborate to bring people together to make sure that we're doing the right thing by not only the taxpayer, but more importantly, the war fighter.
▶ 0:46:00Um the recently we're doing a project where we're redoing the RMF process and we're bringing all of those entities, those many disparate CIOS to come to agreement on how to automate and how to make it faster and more efficient for the taxpayer, but more importantly the war fighter. Okay. And in the interest of making sure everybody gets answer qu or ask questions, I'll yield the rest of my time. Thank you. You're looking at a seasoned soccer pro right Uh Mr. Whit sides, you are recognized.
▶ 0:46:31Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I have basically just two questions and I would second the comments from uh the chair in the ranking uh that we're grateful to both of you for bringing your expertise uh to the department. First question is sort of a general one from Dr. Maddie top level. It seems like AI is going to fit into all different aspects of life and also all aspects of how we both defend and uh and have offensive operations for the Department of Defense.
▶ 0:46:59Are are you in charge of the body that sort of thinks through almost brainstorms all of those different ways or how does the department think about you know oh it's going to have applications to sonar it's going to have an application to cyber security it's going to have applica you know how do you how do you get a sense of because I feel like we should be making these investments now across a range of activities that will take time to develop but so how how do we develop the road map for where AI will play both offensively and defensively for the nation security
▶ 0:47:31represent thank you for that great question. Um I think it's actually looking at from both top down bottom up. Um so as you know we have a published um AI and data strategy that supports I'll say the major muscle moves the infrastructure the data management um the development into the workforce all focused on how do we make that interoperability that as you said you have to have if you're going to play on the offensive end and the defensive end there's that thing in the middle called transition we call it interoperability and so we
▶ 0:48:01have to look at it from the top level how do we facilitate and have the investments as you mentioned for for the infrastructure as well as the workforce. Now, from the bottom up perspective, there's al a wel acknowledged um effort that's called the capability gap analysis that the department goes through where the war fighters based on their readiness and their um assessment of their ability to execute their orders uh are able to bring forth where those gaps are.
▶ 0:48:30And what I think that you'll find over the recent years is an acceleration and increase because of these types of efforts that we have where we send our developers forward to work with those operators. They identify those opportunities where we can accelerate and close those gaps with the appropriate level of technology.
▶ 0:48:49So again, I know a lot of folks tend to jump towards the upper end of the spectrum, if you will, with artificial intelligence, but there are a number of I'll say visualizations, analytics, metrics, those types of things that um put you on that pathway to mature that effort, but still have significant impact that we're able to leverage. So I think the answer is we're positioned on the appropriate u I'm also statutoily an adviser to the JRock, the joint requirements oversight committee.
▶ 0:49:16Um, and again with my experience, I look forward to working that. Look, look forward to working with you on that because I think that's super important. Um, uh, Zarington, you are a world expert on cyber security and so unfortunately I'm going to have to ask you about some cyber security events that have recently come up. So, uh, as you know, um, the signal variant tele which is in use apparently by many at the highest levels of our government, including the former national security adviser, was recently hacked.
▶ 0:49:44Are are you familiar uh with this company and this product signal? Yes sir. Tele message. Yes sir. I'm sorry. Yes. What does tele message do broadly defined? Uh end to end encryption of capability to communicate with pointtooint. That's what signal does. Tele message actually um archives the messages that are sent via signal. Um I mean you may you know I call it bice but that's okay. Yes I have a different name for it. I'm sorry sir. Uh okay sounds good. Yes that's right. And that is the actual the other name. You're right.
▶ 0:50:13So, um, do you know how many people are permitted to use this for official business inside the DoD? Inside the DoD, senior leadership, uh, to use the smar capability is determined by the DoD instructions on mobile devices signal. Okay. Sorry. Are are you aware that the public reporting indicates tele was was hacked? I am aware, sir. Yes. Um, does tele message back up any messages outside of the US that are um sent via US government leaders? No, sir.
▶ 0:50:41So I what I was trying to explain is that the smarst capability is not used in the department of defense currently. We do have the appropriate availability to download on GF signal but we are not allowed to communicate any cui on those devices uh as per our instructions. So smar capability that intellect is not used on DoD currently. Okay. Was it ever during this Not to my knowledge. Okay. I mean I think the national security adviser was using it. So, you're saying it's a different agency, sir, with different protocols and different requirements.
▶ 0:51:12Okay. Okay. Um, cool. I think that's good for now. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. Thank you, Mr. Lrol. You are now recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, everyone. And, um, for everyone in all my service veterans and service members in here, thank you for your service. God bless each and every one of you. Since I have Miss Harrington and Mr. Matty in front of me, I I have a very I have one question. The CIO CDO capabilities and priorities printed out here are amazing.
▶ 0:51:39And Lord knows that the cyber space that we're living in each day is our next and that's the valued threat moving forward. And we put so much effort in protecting our systems. And you may or may not be able to answer this question. I'll throw it at you anyway. And if because maybe you can point me in the right direction.
▶ 0:51:56When the war fighter transitions from the DoD to the VA, all of those amazing records, search quals, medical records are more or less lost in translation. The ability for the DoD to communicate to the VA, and I'll be I'll be generous while I'm in the room with you, is something that we need to address.
▶ 0:52:22I want the DoD and the VA to make it completely seamless for the service member to move into the veteran space, have all of that information transmit or trans transfer without any effort whatsoever from the veteran. Are we looking at that? Are we addressing that? Is DoD having the conversation with the VA and saying, "Yes, we understand this is a problem and this is how we're moving to fix it." Mr.
▶ 0:52:51Man, doctor, excuse me. So, thank you for the question. Um, I I would have to say that I would have to get back to you on that specific question just based on the time that I've had in the seat to work through that particular issue. Okay. Um, and so I I'm happy to take that and get back to you as as far as I can find out and what efforts are ongoing and what the plans are to move forward. Miss Harrington, absolutely.
▶ 0:53:17So I actually have a great deal of experience on this since back in the days where we call a place called spayor. I was involved in the original integration of the DoD and VA electronic healthcare records and data. It absolutely does not work. And sir, what I would say is what we are doing right now with Dr. Maddie and myself, we are creating data standards, data labeling and data tagging that have never been used before in the department where they're harmonized.
▶ 0:53:45So data in one disparit source does needs to be tagged and labeled in a way that it can transverse from the DoD to the VA. And also as we're using data in, you know, as when the president created the executive order with the cartels now being terrorist organizations, we are now using title 10, title 40, and title 50 in a way that we've never used those capabilities before.
▶ 0:54:10So what we are doing now is groundbreaking on standardizing data labeling, data tagging so that we get data standards that go across all the disparate sources. Correct. Just to clarify, so DoD, and I'm going to make the assumption that you're my point person on this. Yes, sir. DoD is communicating with the VA leadership to fix this problem. We are in communications with the the VA. Is the VA receptive? New leadership? Yes, sir.
▶ 0:54:38I I I actually live in the building where Secretary Collins resides and I will say that the VA is definitely cooperative in this. Okay. But this is something at the whole of government level we're dealing with that what we're trying to do with ICAM the ident identity credential access management is critical to this so that any member so if you get out of the service your identity remains so that the data that is pertinent and related to you can be directly accessed by you.
▶ 0:55:06That's what we're talking about is creating this federated network so that information that you get while you're in service should translate to the VA and it's all within a a vast data lake that is highly protected. But that identity credential access management is key to it and making sure that we have the data standards labeled and tagged appropriately. And Dr.
▶ 0:55:27Maddie, I don't know if you want to pontificate on that because that has been I think one of our our direct sources of you know love for each other in the past uh what six weeks that you've been here that that is absolutely paramount and I will also address um the federal CIO agrees to this um the the all of our CIOS are in agreeance of this. Okay, good.
▶ 0:55:46and I'm going to be in direct contact with your office multiple times a day most likely to make sure this is pushed forward because if and I'm sure you have veterans in your life and they absolutely talk to us as congressional members and one of the major complaints. I have the same complaint is that that information and if you're in uniform in this room, you need to be paying attention what I'm saying to you. That information does not translate or transfer currently.
▶ 0:56:11And it is a it is such a challenge when you're not in the military and outside the tribe and you're on your own. So, if we can help them, we're moving forward. So, thank you very much both of you. Appreciate it. I I yield back. On that note, I remember when I retired, I had a photocopy of my entire health records to to hand deliver to the VA side of the house and then and then they lost it. Mr. Vinman, you are now recognized. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 0:56:42Chairman. Um Dr. Maddie, um AI is a obviously a revolutionary technology and I think offers a lot of Um and there's an institutional aspect to this obviously uh supporting the institution the functions the the generation of the force and there's an operational component to it and I want to focus on the operational side of this because there are international legal obligations and law of war obligations and so can you
▶ 0:57:12talk to me a little bit about how um AI is being controlled there's there's got to be a balance obviously ly between the speed of making decisions and our obligations on the law of war.
▶ 0:57:26And I I feel like uh what I'm seeing from this administration uh and frankly from the department is a deemphasis of our obligations which really undermine our values as somebody that served in the in the army for 25 years and half it as a troop leader and half as a as a JAG. Um those are critical obligations. they they enable the war fight uh and they are consistent with our values.
▶ 0:57:55Well, thank you for the question. Um I will I will share with you that I think that with regard to that concern um it's there there's actually I would say four facets that we think through when we talk about the notion of responsible AI. Um first obviously which is where most people start the discussion is from a technology standpoint a technical standpoint. How do you design the system? How do you architect the system? How do you safeguard the data?
▶ 0:58:24You know th those kinds of things that you already alluded to that we would do from an almost institutional standpoint. Um the next part of it is those when you start to go into things like ethics um the legal aspects that you mentioned and of course the policy which is um overarching in terms of how do you do the sharing.
▶ 0:58:41We have we have a number of forums including one over the um AI development with our partners or AI partners council where we have currently 16 nations that get together work through some of those issues how would we share again across the technology where are the policy issues what are some of the legal um and so I look forward um as I you know come into the seat to move forward I think uh it's probably six months for our next event where we all come together and talk through those types of things and I'm happy to share the feedback and
▶ 0:59:11the objectives that we have there. But I think the most important point like I said this notion of responsible AI has to be multifaceted and cover all those aspects. Thank you. I think I would just reinforce this idea that uh especially when it comes to the decision to uh drop ordinance um that uh we we get this balance correct for our war fighter uh for you know lethality but also um to make sure we meet our obligations and are consistent
▶ 0:59:41with our values. And so this is an area I'm interested in I'd like to follow up with you on as well. Um second question I have is related to this um sort of digital environment. My my colleague um sort of alluded to this when he was talking about digital records and um actually I think Ukraine provides an interesting model for this because they have a ministry of digital uh transformation and they have this app that basically um provides just a ton of resources.
▶ 1:00:11It's uh digital documents, online services, streamline interactions, digital identity that helps with not only transparency but efficiency and movement of records and I think we can do this in a very secure manner uh and very modern. I mean the systems that we use in the department frankly are antiquated. So I'd love to hear your comment on that Miss Arrington. Absolutely concur and agree with that. The transparency and the data flow is critical.
▶ 1:00:39We're working on standards to harmonize that data and to make it into as I was stating you know it needs to be the data has to be labeled and tagged appropriately in the data lake because we do have a tremendous amount of data but identity credential access management so you representative to have your credentials to be able to see all the data that you are able by by whatever clearance level there's at that you can see that data at an instant that is what we're trying to get to um it will take a minute and services
▶ 1:01:10as important lane because uh you know soldier PCSing from one duty station to another or uh ETSsing and and accessing veterans benefits um should be able to do that in a very streamlined way that cuts down on on uh uh waste fraud, waste and abuse. Absolutely. And that's what we're working for. The federation of ICAM is critical. I can tell you from personal experience. I work here in Washington DC and I live in Somerville, South Carolina.
▶ 1:01:35and when I go to uh go to the high side at NY, my credentials don't go through. So, I I feel you as well. But that has been a priority of my my time in tenure. We are working on that with CDAO and our other partners across the federal government because that identity credential management matters. It's going to be the lifeline for individuals from and I say with the birth to death within their military service from when they start till they they're their ending in their life. They have to have access. Thank you.
▶ 1:02:05Thank you for that. And we're over so I yield back. Oh, sorry, sir. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Crank. You're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, and Miss Arrington, thank you for your answers to Mr. Latrell, I I as I was listening to him, this is something that we've got to get solved. It's sort of amazing to me that we've had a Department of Veterans Affairs for few years now, right? if you and uh that should be really the role of the VA is to seamlessly take care of these folks.
▶ 1:02:35So, thank you for your work on that. I I appreciate that. It's very important. Thank you, sir. Um Dr. Maddie, what steps is DoD taking to ensure that uh AI ML systems can operate at the speed of mission uh particularly in contested or denied environments where latency and decision advantage are are pretty critical. Yeah, represent thanks for that great question.
▶ 1:02:59Um, so I think again I don't want to reiterate too much about the approach that I mentioned with our guide efforts on the experimentation, but you you make a an interesting nuance to it with regard to the operational environment and the impact of degraded or denied communications.
▶ 1:03:16Uh so when you think about artificial intelligence um folks a lot of folks tend to seem to want to I'll say split that perspective and there's an AI that we do in the cloud and then there's a autonomy piece that we do at the edge and I think what we've learned over the last several years um actually since about 2012 since we had such an advancement in the technology with GPUs etc that allowed us to do the high performance computing at the edge We now
▶ 1:03:46see this as a as a kind of a spectrum of not so much of here's all the things that the operator does in the rear versus here's what's happening out at the at the front but really how do you enable the war fighter at the I'll say it AI at echelon and because we know of the environment we expect those types of um environments to be impacting market communications and connectivity you have to be able to work across the spectrum of autonomy and have um our systems that are able to enable the war fighters in such a way that when
▶ 1:04:16they are degraded or not able to necessarily communicate, they can have mission success. And so I think that that's a a an area where we've seen success whether it's, you know, air or ground or sea types of capabilities that have autonomy varying from teley op uh I'll say semi-aututonomous or almost near full autonomy in terms of their maneuver as well as their mission platforms and so on.
▶ 1:04:43So, I think that's a great uh area that we're going to continue to make great progress on. But again, it all ties back to enabling the war fighter because it's the commanders that have the the uh authorities to employ these systems in an appropriate manner.
▶ 1:04:56And of course, the with the sophistication of advanced persistent threats uh and their ability to evade detection uh through uh how is DoD leveraging AI and ML to process and analyze full packet data at machine speed in cyber operations particularly uh to enable those real-time threat detection responses in in sort of contested environments. Again, thank you for the question.
▶ 1:05:25I would love to give you a dissertation if you will on AI and cyber but I know my teammate is working this stuff every day and if you would allow me I'd ask her to kind of give you some updates on exactly where we are and what we're doing with that. Great. Thank you Congressman. So as we're moving in the zero trust framework right that is the entirety it's a culture. So we are using AI and machine learning in the zero trust environment. We go with the aspect that the adversary is already in the network. That's what zero trust does.
▶ 1:05:53So we are continuously redteing our our environments making sure that you know any kind of obuscation that we see or abnormality we're dealing with in real time. We are not putting it into you know the years ago we'd write a poem and we'd get to it. It's being done in a continuous monitoring capability in zero trust. That's why we're so forcing it.
▶ 1:06:12when we find in red team our our our our platforms, our weapon systems, uh the red team events have to be remediated and addressed within a certain time frame, which is not long at all, and we're we're getting down on it. But if we didn't have AI and machine learning, that would be something that would be rudimentary. We are moving at the speed of relevance to make sure that we're doing everything we can to ensure lethality and readiness. Um that's why zero trust is the priority of the department to make sure that we're getting down on this. Great.
▶ 1:06:40Well, I I had one more question, but I'm I'm out of time. I was going to ask about sort of the intersection between spectrum authority and Golden Dome, but um if you want to give your thoughts in a couple of seconds, that would be great. Right now, my office holds the authority of, you know, ensuring spectrum for the Department of Defense, what we're using it for.
▶ 1:06:59It is paramount to Golden Dome and between R&E research and engineering, my office uh CDAO and across the the DARPA, we are working to make best use of the spectrum that we have to ensure that we can provide Americans true security with Golden Dome. That is our number one priority, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Okay, I think that time is uh we we got more a little more time than we thought. So, we're going to do a couple follow-on uh questions and and open up the floor.
▶ 1:07:28So, I'm going to I have one more. Uh, this is to Miss Arrington. We read in the media that the department's core cloud capability contract is due for its next evolution. And broad terms, can you outline elements that you would like to see included in this? Thank you, sir. Yes, absolutely. So, as we go on to this follow on to this effort, we're going to make sure that there's more small business opportunities. That's thing one. We want to make sure that everybody has an opportunity to be on this. We're also, you know, from the the and I'll use the word the doge.
▶ 1:07:58We've learned to harness the power of the Department of Defense and looking at our total buy power. That'll be something you'll see in this next iteration is the entire buying power of the Department of Defense. Um, we'll be offering software as a service as a part of an effective use of the full force of the buying power of DoD in this contract. And this will have the core tenants as I just discussed with Representative Crank of Zero trust trust but verify ensuring that we're doing our ultimate best.
▶ 1:08:25Looking forward to this contract um and having the multitudes of capabilities out there from large providers all the way to the micro providers. It's it's a whole of uh uh I would say I live by this motto sir. It's one team one fight. Uh so having this contract and having all the teammates that we possibly can have on it with the best rates that are the most efficient use for the tax dollars is the goal of my department. Thank you. Mr. Whitesides, did you have a question? I did, sir. Okay. Is that okay? Yep.
▶ 1:08:56Um so just to follow up. Um uh two questions. So number one, if you're not using smar or whatever it's called tele message at the DoD, how is the DoD capturing messages sent via signal per its legal responsibilities under law? At this classification, sir, I I can't I would I will give you a classified answer in response. Okay, we we'll need to get that. And and I do want to make this this segment.
▶ 1:09:25If a product is hacked and that does hacked, it does not necessarily mean the instantiation that is being used by a department or agency has been exfilled. We do not put just broad capabilities on devices. We have multiple layers of security that are enabled and and put on so that things like that don't happen to military or senior leadership.
▶ 1:09:45I mean that's part of our goal but to talk about that publicly would not be um something that I could do but I will definitely give you a detailed instruction uh detailed report on how we are providing security to the devices the GFE the government furnished equipment to our senior leaders. Absolutely. Okay. And then just a followup on that question was um you said that the national security adviser was under essentially different policies. Is that what you said?
▶ 1:10:13the the DoD, the only thing I have oversight into is the DoD device, mobile device authorities. From a whole of government perspective, of course, the national security adviser is texting with the Secretary of Defense. So, the idea that like we have different policies and potentially different rules of protection for cyber security strikes me as maybe not as effective as as we would like. Um, do you know what I mean?
▶ 1:10:37Like because if messages on Waltz's phone, you know, are are getting archived by SMR, then regardless of whether, you know, the Secretary of Defense's messages are getting archived by SMARS, they're getting archived by SMH on the other side. And so, like, we need to have a unified approach to cyber security between the White House and the Department of Defense.
▶ 1:11:00My office actually is working directly with WAPO on that right now to ensure that we do and and prior you know I would say that it's not out of neglect or any other thing other than departments and authorities have been very I would say disparit we've come together that is a priority there are certain devices that I cannot talk about in this environment sir that they do have to communicate with that are of a classified nature I'm familiar with those devices I used them in past administrations and I think a lot of us are wondering
▶ 1:11:30why those devices weren't used um for these communications that that have been documented publicly by the by the press. I would refer back to the SEC def's office and to the NSA and the national security advisor directly to their offices on their use. I can just talk to the DoD instructions and policies we have. To close out, Mr.
▶ 1:11:51chairman, I would just say I think they need to be listening to you as a cyber security expert and I I think we need to get more expertise in this area among those those senior leaders and I'll I'll leave it at that. Can can would you mind if I just of course so what I would say is that there are certain things as time has evolved um ways of communication I am one and my team is working on different uh other capabilities that we can use to have further communication because we worked in a world you know remember back in the day um you know we'd send email
▶ 1:12:21or or snail mail to each other I'm not really fond of voice I think that there's enough microphones and people out there in the world that I really like the idea of text messaging and ensuring that our le senior leaders can communicate effectively away from their offices because the government doesn't function within the building you know within the Pentagon or within the white house or within this building itself.
▶ 1:12:43So my office as well as you know WAPO and others are working to find a common way that we can have senior leaders have true secure communications on a day-to-day basis. That is something that you know when I say incidents happen it innovates us and and urges us to make the requirement and make the devices and make the the technology available. So it's it's something that we are taking as a priority. No doubt it's I would say the number two priority in my office right now.
▶ 1:13:11number one is another classified endeavor but this is a number two priority to make sure that we do have an effective way for you even sir to communicate with your colleagues because even what you say to each other is something that the adversary is interested in but yet again this is on going back to a cultural thing that we need to understand the culture of cyber security throughout the whole of government everything that you say to each other our adversaries are interested in it's not just a senior leader discussion it is at the base level of even staffers this is the type of culture that we're
▶ 1:13:41trying to provide and get to and getting those devices whether it be you know is it a capability that I can have people bring your own device with a certain app laid down on it that you can be secure that's what I'm doing right now sir because it is paramount for me great well I look forward to the classified briefing when you're ready to do that yes sir thanks Mr. Chairman I yield back thank you I know as a colonel my phone was being monitored so it's we're all we're all under a microscope uh with our adversaries Mr. Crank thank you Mr.
▶ 1:14:10Chairman, uh, Miss Arrington, I did want to kind of follow up on the spectrum question. You talked about the importance of that to Golden Dome. Yes, sir. Uh, and I know that Golden Dome is very important to this president. Yes. Um, has has the administration relayed the importance of of spectrum to the Congress of the United States? Because as we're talking about reconciliation, um, that's certainly been a consideration that we're considering up here.
▶ 1:14:36And and I think for one of the top priorities of this administration, it's very important that that be at the highest levels be relayed to members of of Congress how important that spectrum authority is uh to Golden Dome. Absolutely. I think when the president made the statement we will have Golden Dome that was a clear and concise message. I can tell you that my boss the SEC def and the deputy have definitely made that a priority.
▶ 1:15:02But spectrum is something I would look at as the critical resource. It's like beachfront property. There's no more of it. It's laws of physics. We do need to look at ways to share it in a sensible realistic manner going down the you know as we look forward into the future because what we have today in 10 years what will 6G look like I that is you know 7G is it 8G and as we're moving in AI so we're really looking to our our study on DSS dynamic spectrum sharing but the
▶ 1:15:32president has made it crystal clear that we are to protect the nation first that is his priority that has been his priority since day one from securing the border um to, you know, Golden Dome. The president's desire is to secure the nation and understanding that the le the first three of of the megahertz of spectrum are critical to national security, not just for ourselves, but our allied partners. I don't think that message has ever been any clearer. Um, and Golden Dome is is an exciting approach.
▶ 1:16:00I look, you know, I I've been to Israel several times and I look at how effective Iron Dome is. And this goes along with my thought and belief that we must do more in the non-kinetic sense with the spectrum, right? To have AI and and and and and sensing to not have a kinetic event happen. And that's what Golden Dome really is about is sensing when there is a kinetic activity that we can send a kinetic response to save lives.
▶ 1:16:27And the president, the secretary, and the deputy have made that abundantly clear to myself, my office, and everybody in the department. Yeah, we we still and and I'm a big supporter and will be a big proponent of Golden Dome uh here. We still have some colleagues uh on even our full armed services committee who are not fans and who do not believe that it will work. But that's that's them. I'll let them speak for themselves.
▶ 1:16:50But to the point of the legisl have you had do you know that the legislative liaison office of the White House is actually talking about this spectrum issue with regard to reconciliation? Uh we've got some folks in the Senate that want to use spectrum sell off in in the reconciliation process. There have been areas of spectrum.
▶ 1:17:10I believe that we came to an agreeance of about 425 meghertz with the FCC and some areas that we could you know CRBS which is a a certain band that we have a few systems in that we can move out of to make capital markets more accessible to that. But the lower three is not in that mix. That is definitely above that.
▶ 1:17:30There's there FCC bans, there's uh you know higher bands that go uh through other agencies, transportation, department of transportation, and that's another area we need to be considerate of. I mean, you know, Secretary Duffy is dealing with a great deal with the federal, you know, transportation with air and traffic that those bands are what they're using. So, we have figured out there's about 425 megahertz that solidly we can unencumber and let to be sold, but not the lower three. Yeah. Yeah.
▶ 1:17:59and and that's great if we have a you know a compromise that will work and still allow us to do it but just do me a favor go back and double check with the office of legislative liaison and make sure that they're delivering that message to Capitol Hill. Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Mr.
▶ 1:18:15Vivman, you got our final is seeing, you know, if there's a a credible air defense uh for the homeland, I'm all about it. I just don't know what it is other than um the the uh the headline, the marquee, I guess.
▶ 1:18:41So, um just a point of clarification, when you say Wapo, do you mean Wama Whimo? Okay. Yes, sir. I'm sorry. So, just following up on that line of question. Um so obviously first of all it seems like there's like um a a obvious need for this communication that you've identified senior leadership in the executive branch and and here and I hope that there is a um a means of developing a a a government system that we have um uh security and signal is uh very convenient
▶ 1:19:11people have been using it for years but there are some known um vulnerabilities and so um that's that's one thing. I'd love to hear a comment on that. But my question really comes down to OPSSE, which is a really a basic issue, right? A private is taught OPSEC in basic training. And the American people and frankly uniform service members need to have um trust that they and family members are going to be um safe.
▶ 1:19:42Um, and I had a constituent uh, a mother of an F-18 pilot that was in the skies over Yemen at the at the time of that initial assault and she was I rate and uh, so family members, service members are I rate about um, OBSC violations like this. And so what I want to hear um, what I want to understand a little bit better having worked at both DoD and the White House and that there's a potential seam in here, right?
▶ 1:20:09If you have folks from DoD communicating to folks at um at NSC and they have different criteria that they don't have a limitation on the SMARS uh system. Uh is that a potential vulnerability uh because they're communicating across this sort of seam? Um yeah, I'll leave it at that. Thank you, Congressman.
▶ 1:20:34So the way we have traditionally communicated is going going into a skiff and having a high-side communication and that has been the way we have worked it for many many many many years and we're evolving uh the technology is evolving and I will just say that it is my office along with many others to ensure that we come up with a real capability in real time to allow that communication to go forward. Um it's it's paramount and our adversaries the obsseac of our adversaries is true.
▶ 1:21:04Um, but we have I I think a great deal more uh concerns when we have more media presence and knowing you know we we talk about things that happen in real time that every Steven TV camera in the world sees it in real time and I happen to be a personal you know I my first husband um dear friend of mine was in operation the the operation in Somalia who's a quick reactionary force and I saw faster than probably the general saw um one of my dear friends
▶ 1:21:34being dragged through the streets of Moadishu. So I don't know that necessarily the phone is the greatest concern. It is high concern for communication. But we also have to understand that TVs and the capability of people using Tik Tok and Instagram and real-time video sharing is also you know an area of concern. It's we have to be realistic in what we're doing and how we're doing it and understanding the risks that are out there. Absolutely 100%.
▶ 1:22:00I would just say that you you made a very forceful statement earlier in response to my colleagueu's question which I really appreciated on this issue but there's a big difference between you know being in a in a public environment and where there are cameras and stuff like that and communicating in a medium that you think is secure information that is in my mind obviously uh highly sensitive and so because when you believe there's trust in the system you're going to be a lot more open you're going to be and and especially if
▶ 1:22:30you don't know that it's uh it's not secure. So there's a there's a difference there between being out in the world and then communicating in a system that you think is is got and my office's job is to make sure that we do better for both you, the secretary of defense, the deputy, the president, everyone across the board. It's a forcing function. It is something that is a priority for our office to make sure that we have that in rapid time. Um, I would be more than happy to give you a classified brief on all of the efforts that we're doing to ensure security of communications.
▶ 1:23:02Thank you. I appreciate it. And the uh 72,000 veterans uh 20,000 or so active duty folks and uh family members in my district will appreciate it as well. Thank you. And also thank you to the mother and to the war fighter in the F-16. Thank you for their dedication and service to this mission because it is one team, one fight. I thought we had our last question, but Mr. McGuire just walked in. You are recognized. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to our witnesses for being here today. A lot going on today. Um, Dr.
▶ 1:23:32Maddie, um, we all know that artificial intelligence consume consumes a ton of energy. Uh, one source estimates that Chat GT GPT consumes enough energy in a year to power over 20,000 homes and that number is only growing and that's not even including the amount of energy used to train the model. So my first question is what is DoD's strategy for ensuring it has the energy resources it needs to continue scaling AI tooling across the department so that we can win the AI arms race.
▶ 1:24:04Thank you sir for uh attending today and giving us the opportunity to speak with you on issues like that. Excuse me. Um, again, having just uh entered into the position, I know that I'd actually lean on my teammate over here that talks about infrastructure and works those types of issues out of the CIO's office. Um, but I will also offer um I know there's a lot of concern about the large language models and the infrastructure that it takes to do that.
▶ 1:24:30That's why uh uh in previous discussions we've had here, we think about AI at echelon. So, not everything is going to be done in a large data center that requires that. A lot of the things we'll do is AI at Echelon that'll have a smaller form factor for the compute. But specifically to address your question, I'll I'll if with your permission, I'll ask my colleague to speak about larger infrastructure issues. Sure. Thank you, Congressman. Absolutely.
▶ 1:24:56Critical infrastructure and supporting, you know, these AI compute models is paramount to national security and that is one of the areas that we're looking at. uh the grid is something you know it's a it's a fine partnership we have with industry to provide critical infrastructure but also having enough of the energy to actually fund you know to make these tools work. So that's an effort we constantly are are in discussions with with the NYSE and how we can do better with that.
▶ 1:25:20um partnerships with associations like EEI to make sure that we are doing the right thing to have the power generation for AI things like ChatG or Assange or or you know there's a million of them out there. Just an FYI, I'm sure you guys are aware, but in my district we have a company BWXT. They build nuclear reactors that power our submarines and carriers and everything else.
▶ 1:25:42Um, they're also about to build a SMR, small modular reactor, but they're also about to launch the world's first micro reactor, which is about 50 megawws each, I think. And that could change civilization. You you are hitting the nail on the head, and I've been watching that pilot program as it's coming because I think that the micro reactors are definitely, you know, the thing of the future. If we can have a micro reactor on every base and at every compute power station, that is the way around this. and that actually reduces our vulnerability for the adversary to get into infrastructure.
▶ 1:26:13So I I've been actually following that for quite some time uh as a proponent for nuclear energy. I cannot say enough how we need this. Uh I'm supportive of what the department is doing and working with our partners on that. But and it's in your district. You're you're a lucky man, sir. I went to tour BWXT and it was like Star Wars. Yes.
▶ 1:26:31Um, you know, I was also, uh, I've been talking with a lot of folks like yourselves that are experts in the field, and they were saying that AI, we had like a 30,000 shortage of coders, and that problem was solved in two hours with AI because AI codes better than we do. But I also um learned that chip technology is best in Taiwan. I think 99% of the the best chips come from Taiwan.
▶ 1:26:55We have got to that technology could have been in the United States, but we didn't take it seriously, but Taiwan took it seriously and China wants that. So, we've got to improve chip manufacturing, be able to scale it so we can win this race war for AI. So, actually had the opportunity to sit with the CEO of Nvidia last week with the deputy secretary and the huge investment they are making in the United States to actually manufacture chips here as well as Texas Instruments and others. You you are correct.
▶ 1:27:25Um having chips in this country uh are and our own is a a definite need. If you were to ask Katie Arrington um that we need to have a strategy, a national strategy about chips and and I think that this administration is working towards having that for our allies and partners. It's not just us that need the chips. It's we need to make sure that our allies and partners have the same capability and access um to to win in the non-kinetic war.
▶ 1:27:52I'm excited about what I've seen from our partners in industry about their investment in the United States to manufacture chips here so that we can have them readily available to us. Uh when meeting with the CEO of Nvidia, the capability of AI to generate code is a good thing. But then I I look at my my friend Dr. Maddie, right? And we meet need to make sure that the code that is being developed by the chips themselves is is is good code, not to double check it, right? Absolutely.
▶ 1:28:21That's what I just wanted to say is the udal loop is a real thing and having humans in that loop. I'd rather western civilization program AI than folks that want our destruction. But thank you so much. I yield back. Thank you, sir. Okay. But on behalf of the ranking member, Mr. Khan, myself, and the 19 members of this committee, thank you for coming in. We appreciate your cander, uh your expertise, and we wish you both well as you uh do your duties. So, thank you for a great committee hearing. Thank you,