The U.S. Army awarded a $6.3 million R&D contract to Advanced Technology International, managing prime for Battelle, to develop software that identifies and analyzes unpredictable behavior in AI systems.
The effort focuses on developing technology to assess potential risks associated with AI-enabled autonomous systems and the models that power them.
“The Performer will be responsible for developing the Generative Unwanted Activity Recognition and Defense (GUARD) prototype project (GUARD) software to evaluate AI-enable autonomous systems (AIAS) and their models, creating comprehensive risk profiles. GUARD detects emergent behavior in AIAS, aiding the DoD in transitioning to next generation AIAS capabilities. Further, GUARD uses advancements in neural network explainability, AI cognitive research, and game AI development to create Behavior-Event Graph data structures,” officials wrote in an sam.gov posting.
Additional prototype efforts will include developing custom launchers and mobile containers for ground-launched systems, warhead design and customization, component fabrication, and prototypes for housings and interfaces to optimize lethality, impulse, and fragmentation while improving manufacturability.
If the prototype effort is successfully completed, the government expects to award a follow-on production effort through a contract or transaction, without competition, to participants that meet the project’s requirements.