Trump team signs transition MOU but refuses GSA’s tech services; Justice Department OIG calls out lack of an updated public AI strategy

The Trump-Vance transition team and the Biden administration signed a memorandum of understanding last week formally kicking off the process to hand over executive power — though the Trump team has decided not to accept some of the government’s available resources, including tech and information security provided by the General Services Administration. The transition team will reportedly run as a “self-sufficient organization” with existing security and information protections already built-in, utilizing private funding, according to the press release from the Trump transition team. That includes not using technology or buildings provided by the General Services Administration as part of the transition resources the agency is authorized and appropriated to provide. The Trump team said it “already has existing security and information protections built in, which means we will not require additional government and bureaucratic oversight.”

The Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General called out the agency’s lack of an updated public strategy for artificial intelligence and underscored the need to be proactive in a report on its management and performance challenges last week. The comments came as part of the OIG’s determination that maintaining cybersecurity and keeping up with emerging technologies, such as AI, were among the top challenges for the DOJ. For AI specifically, the report underscored how long ago the department’s public AI strategy was released. The OIG’s office said in the report: “While the Department has made efforts to adapt to the change in the technological landscape, such as hiring the Department’s first Chief Science and Technology Advisor and Chief AI Officer, the most recent publicly issued strategy on AI from the Department—which outlines an AI adoption and coordination strategy with DOJ component responsibilities—is from 2020.”

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