Washington Post: These senators want to break Big Tech’s hold on AI, cloud contracts

An unlikely Senate duo is pushing to loosen the grip that tech giants such as Google and Amazon have over defense contracting in cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri) are introducing a bill on Thursday requiring the Defense Department to ensure there is a "competitive award process" - which they say is currently lacking - when it doles out contracts for advanced AI models, the cloud and data infrastructure.

It would also restrict what data government contractors are able to get from agencies and would mandate a report examining concentration in the AI market and identifying potential "barriers to entry" for smaller companies. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

The Protecting AI and Cloud Competition in Defense Act, previewed exclusively for the Tech Brief, would bring fresh bipartisan scrutiny to the billions the federal government regularly awards to some of Silicon Valley's biggest players.

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Read the full story here.

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