Douglas Matty is exiting his role as the Pentagon’s chief digital and artificial intelligence officer and moving on to focus on the Trump administration’s “Golden Dome for America” missile defense initiative, DefenseScoop has learned. Principal Deputy CDAO Andrew Mapes will lead the department’s AI hub in an acting capacity until a new CDAO is hired. Ahead of reaching full operational capacity in 2022, the AI-accelerating office merged and integrated multiple technology-focused predecessor organizations at the Pentagon, including the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), Defense Digital Service (DDS), Office of the Chief Data Officer, and the Maven and Advana programs. The DOD’s vision and priorities for the CDAO have been reconfigured several times since its inception. And while AI is a major priority for the U.S. government under President Donald Trump, the Pentagon’s CDAO office has seen an exodus of senior leaders and other technical employees this year. Matty’s departure also comes as the office is hustling to execute on a range of DOD-wide efforts to speed up the delivery and fielding of data analytics, automation, computer vision, machine learning and other next-generation AI capabilities for military and civilian personnel. Last week, Pentagon leaders unveiled a new purpose-built platform — GenAI.mil — to provide commercial options directly to most of its workforce on their desktops.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has tapped ID.me to verify the identities of beneficiaries on Medicare.gov, according to a Tuesday announcement from the identity-proofing company. ID.me will be available as an option for identity verification and sign-in on Medicare.gov starting in early 2026, per the release. The deal adds to the growing number of federal programs opting to use the digital identity service that leverages facial recognition technology and has been the subject of some controversy in the past. Already, ID.me is used at 21 federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs, per the release. Opting in means an ID.me user could sign in with the same credentials at any of the other federal, state or private-sector entities that use the service, the company said in a statement to FedScoop.
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Douglas Matty is exiting his role as the Pentagon’s chief digital and artificial intelligence officer and moving on to focus on the Trump administration’s “Golden Dome for America” missile defense initiative, DefenseScoop has learned. Principal Deputy CDAO Andrew Mapes will lead the department’s AI hub in an acting capacity until a new CDAO is hired. Ahead of reaching full operational capacity in 2022, the AI-accelerating office merged and integrated multiple technology-focused predecessor organizations at the Pentagon, including the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), Defense Digital Service (DDS), Office of the Chief Data Officer, and the Maven and Advana programs. The DOD’s vision and priorities for the CDAO have been reconfigured several times since its inception. And while AI is a major priority for the U.S. government under President Donald Trump, the Pentagon’s CDAO office has seen an exodus of senior leaders and other technical employees this year. Matty’s departure also comes as the office is hustling to execute on a range of DOD-wide efforts to speed up the delivery and fielding of data analytics, automation, computer vision, machine learning and other next-generation AI capabilities for military and civilian personnel. Last week, Pentagon leaders unveiled a new purpose-built platform — GenAI.mil — to provide commercial options directly to most of its workforce on their desktops.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has tapped ID.me to verify the identities of beneficiaries on Medicare.gov, according to a Tuesday announcement from the identity-proofing company. ID.me will be available as an option for identity verification and sign-in on Medicare.gov starting in early 2026, per the release. The deal adds to the growing number of federal programs opting to use the digital identity service that leverages facial recognition technology and has been the subject of some controversy in the past. Already, ID.me is used at 21 federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs, per the release. Opting in means an ID.me user could sign in with the same credentials at any of the other federal, state or private-sector entities that use the service, the company said in a statement to FedScoop.
Perplexity becomes second AI platform cleared for FedRAMP prioritization
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1 month ago
Perplexity becomes second AI platform cleared for FedRAMP prioritization
Perplexity AI, an AI-powered search engine, is ramping up its push for government use, inking a new deal with the General Services Administration to offer its product for just 25 cents per agency. GSA announced the deal with Perplexity on Wednesday, emphasizing that the product will be offered directly through the agency’s Multiple Award Schedule rather than through a government reseller, a first-of-its-kind agreement. The move aligns with GSA’s OneGov initiative, which aims to work directly with technology vendors to cut prices and streamline contracting. Under the deal, Perplexity’s Enterprise Pro for Government will be available on GSA’s MAS for a quarter to agencies over an 18-month term. In doing so, Perplexity also received prioritized authorization under FedRAMP, the government’s primary security review program that approves cloud-based technologies for federal use. Perplexity is only the second company to do so, joining OpenAI, which received prioritized authorization in September. According to GSA, Perplexity’s Enterprise platform was also streamlined through the FedRAMP 20x pilot, which is focused on simplifying the cloud services approval process and reducing the timeline from months to weeks. Perplexity’s platform uses large language models from other companies, such as Anthropic’s Claude or OpenAI’s ChatGPT, to conduct real-time internet searches and generate summaries for users. GSA noted Perplexity’s platform has optional connections to common agency systems like Microsoft’s OneDrive, Outlook or SharePoint.
The Department of Health and Human Services is exploring how artificial intelligence can support caregivers with the launch of a new $2 million prize competition for AI caregiver tools. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the “Caregiver Artificial Intelligence Prize Competition” at an event Tuesday for National Family Caregivers Month, stating the agency is calling on engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs to use AI to “make caregiving smarter, simpler and more humane.” Kennedy said: “Many caregivers work around the clock, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, taking care of their loved ones with lifelong disabilities, dementia or chronic illness. Too many lose their income, their job, their aspirations and ambitions for themselves and even their own health in the process.” The HHS’s Administration for Community Living (ACL) emphasized that the direct care workforce is facing increased shortages, leaving family caregivers to fill the void. According to an AARP report published in July, nearly 1 in 4 adults provided ongoing care for an adult or child with a complex medical condition or disability. These caregivers spend, on average, about $7,200 a year in out-of-pocket caregiving expenses, the report found. The competition will seek tools that benefit the professional care workforce or personal caregivers. Developers could be awarded up to $2 million for the products.
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Douglas Matty is exiting his role as the Pentagon’s chief digital and artificial intelligence officer and moving on to focus on the Trump administration’s “Golden Dome for America” missile defense initiative, DefenseScoop has learned. Principal Deputy CDAO Andrew Mapes will lead the department’s AI hub in an acting capacity until a new CDAO is hired. Ahead of reaching full operational capacity in 2022, the AI-accelerating office merged and integrated multiple technology-focused predecessor organizations at the Pentagon, including the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), Defense Digital Service (DDS), Office of the Chief Data Officer, and the Maven and Advana programs. The DOD’s vision and priorities for the CDAO have been reconfigured several times since its inception. And while AI is a major priority for the U.S. government under President Donald Trump, the Pentagon’s CDAO office has seen an exodus of senior leaders and other technical employees this year. Matty’s departure also comes as the office is hustling to execute on a range of DOD-wide efforts to speed up the delivery and fielding of data analytics, automation, computer vision, machine learning and other next-generation AI capabilities for military and civilian personnel. Last week, Pentagon leaders unveiled a new purpose-built platform — GenAI.mil — to provide commercial options directly to most of its workforce on their desktops.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has tapped ID.me to verify the identities of beneficiaries on Medicare.gov, according to a Tuesday announcement from the identity-proofing company. ID.me will be available as an option for identity verification and sign-in on Medicare.gov starting in early 2026, per the release. The deal adds to the growing number of federal programs opting to use the digital identity service that leverages facial recognition technology and has been the subject of some controversy in the past. Already, ID.me is used at 21 federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs, per the release. Opting in means an ID.me user could sign in with the same credentials at any of the other federal, state or private-sector entities that use the service, the company said in a statement to FedScoop.
