Procurement as AI policy

Federal AI procurement went from new governance memos to $1 enterprise deals to contract terms on 'neutrality' and finally to excluding a lab over its usage limits. Together these show purchasing rules now do much of the work regulation would otherwise do.

1. 3 Apr 2025PolicyGovernmentUS

   OMB replaces Biden-era rules with new memos on federal AI use and AI buying

   Sets the baseline rules for agency AI use and AI contracts.

2. 23 Jul 2025PolicyGovernmentUS

   White House publishes America's AI Action Plan and three executive orders

   Calls for frontier-model access across agencies and launches the 'Woke AI' order.

   Also on Washington vs the states on AI rules

3. 6 Aug 2025ProcurementGovernmentUS

   OpenAI, Anthropic and Google offer frontier AI to US agencies for about $1 via GSA

   Labs compete to supply agencies at near-zero prices.

   Also on The Pentagon, the labs and the limits on use

4. 11 Dec 2025PolicyGovernmentUS

   OMB memo M-26-04 makes 'unbiased AI' terms mandatory in federal LLM contracts

   Neutrality clauses and model disclosures become contract conditions.

5. 27 Feb 2026Enforcement or rulingDefenceUS

   Pentagon labels Anthropic a supply-chain risk after it refuses to drop two limits

   A dispute over usage limits leads to a government-wide ban and a supply-chain designation.

   Also on The Pentagon, the labs and the limits on use, Project Meridian and the race to govern military AI, Who supplies the AI-first military?

6. 25 Sep 2026Enforcement or rulingDefenceUS

   Appeals court upholds Pentagon's supply-chain-risk label on Anthropic

   An appeals court accepts that vendor guardrails can justify exclusion.

   Also on The Pentagon, the labs and the limits on use, Who supplies the AI-first military?

7. Country

   United States (federal)

   See the wider US rule set these procurement moves sit within.

   Also on Project Meridian and the race to govern military AI, Is the AI boom a financial-stability risk?, Is AI taking jobs yet?