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Defense Technology

Government and Private Sector Unite to Advance Optical Communication Technology in Space

Government and Private Sector Unite to Advance Optical Communication Technology in Space

Optical communication, an emerging alternative to radio frequency-based communications, is garnering attention from some of the most prominent space agencies and companies, including NASA and Elon Musk’s Starlink. Significant advancements in the field are expected to revolutionize space and terrestrial telecommunications. The original article can be found here.

FirstNet Authority Board Approves ‘Network Evolution’ Resolution for Faster 5G Transition; Joe Wassel Provides Comments

FirstNet Authority Board Approves ‘Network Evolution’ Resolution for Faster 5G Transition

The First Responder Network Authority Board has greenlit a resolution to enhance network coverage and expedite the national public safety broadband network’s transition to 5G capabilities. The approved “Network Evolution” Resolution 117 resulted in a boosted investment budget for the fiscal year 2024 to $547 million. The original article can be found here.

House Republicans Call for Greater AI Disclosures and Stronger Contractor Sanctions at VA

House Republicans Advocate for Increased Transparency in AI Use Within VA, Stricter Contractor Sanctions

Members of the Veterans Affairs Technology Modernization subcommittee are pressing the department for greater transparency regarding AI use and demanding more severe penalties for contractors who misuse sensitive data.

Streamlining Federal Acquisitions: GSA Launches Service Catalog Platform; Robin Carnahan Provides Insights

GSA Launches Federal Acquisition Service Catalog Platform

The General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) has introduced a new web-based platform to manage vendor catalogs on the GSA Advantage! purchasing website. Known as the FAS Catalog Platform (FCP), the tool promises to streamline the process of uploading and accessing catalogs for Multiple Award Schedule contractors. The original article can be found here .

A Safety Report Is Not an Assurance Case

Revised and substantially expanded July 17, 2026, with the later policy record made explicit.

In January 2024, the U.S. government began implementing a novel requirement from Executive Order 14110: companies developing certain powerful dual-use foundation models were directed, under the Defense Production Act, to report defined development activities and provide information about training, ownership and protection of model weights, and red-team testing.

The move addressed a real information asymmetry. Frontier-model developers could observe capabilities, incidents, infrastructure, and internal test results that the government could not readily see. Voluntary disclosure alone was unlikely to produce consistent coverage, especially when safety findings might affect competitive positioning or invite scrutiny.

But the title of the original version of this post—“AI Companies to Begin Sharing Safety Test Reports”—made the policy sound more complete than it was. Receiving a report is not equivalent to understanding a system. A red-team result is not a safety certificate. A compliance submission does not establish that a model is acceptably safe for every downstream use.

Reporting is best understood as one sensor in a larger assurance system. Its value depends on the quality of the questions, comparability of the evidence, expertise of the reviewer, protections around sensitive information, and—most importantly—the government's ability to act on what it learns.

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