This Week in Government Tech Media – May 1, 2026

By Brad Bass /

As often happens, the stories that bubbled to the top of this week’s list of trending topics for government tech media revolved around AI and cybersecurity. We saw a spate of reports on AI adoption for defense as well as a series of pieces that touched on cybersecurity to protect U.S. critical infrastructure. Here’s the week’s roundup:

The Pentagon’s AI Surge

It was full speed ahead for AI at the Pentagon, with a number of articles this week detailing the department’s growing adoption of generative AI applications. There were also hints at some redemption for Anthropic, following the company’s well-publicized schism with Defense leaders:

  • Defense officials recently used the Pentagon’s enterprise-wide generative AI platform to create 100,000 agents amid a broader push by department leadership to speed up AI adoption, Jon Harper noted in DefenseScoop. 
  • Brig. Gen. Reid Novotny, chief AI officer at Cyber Command, said the command intends to test and deploy the strongest possible AI models, regardless of politics and even country of origin – comments that appear to allude to the Pentagon’s ongoing battle with Anthropic, according to his interview with Sam Sabin in Axios. 
  • In a separate piece, Sabin and her colleague Ashley Gold reported that leaders from Anthropic and OpenAI briefed House Homeland Security Committee staff on their new cyber-capable AI models and their implications for cybersecurity. 
  • In other Anthropic-related news, David DiMolfetta and Alexandra Kelley broke the news in Nextgov/FCW that the White House is crafting guidance that would allow federal agencies to bypass a supply chain risk designation on Anthropic and clear the way for government use of its tools, including the cyber-focused Mythos AI model.
  • Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley told the Senate Armed Services Committee this week that AI and autonomy are being integrated into special operations “at every level” of the command’s mission, including “the ability to project violence, should that be required,” according to coverage by Patrick Tucker in Defense One.
  • Sydney J. Freedberg reported in Breaking Defense that military and civilian personnel at the Defense Department have used a version of Google Gemini’s Agent Designer to create over 100,000 semi-autonomous AI agents in less than five weeks since the tool became available.
  • Anastasia Obis of Federal News Network provided an overview of the Army’s Rapid Implementation of AI initiative, organized around three main efforts — developing a “model armory” to deliver AI tools to soldiers at the tactical edge, integrating AI into the Army’s complex planning, programming, budgeting and execution process, and to enable a more efficient supply chain.
  • Ross Gianfortune of GovCIO Media wrote that the Marine Corps is using AI to identify and help address unresolved issues like pay delays and training gaps that can drive Marines out of service .
  • The Air Force this week issued a new comprehensive strategy to recruit, train and retain professionals capable of utilizing AI to achieve military superiority, Elodie Collinsreported in ExecutiveGov.

A Critical Need for Cyber Protection

Several government tech publications covered a House hearing this week that touched on various aspects of critical infrastructure protection. Meanwhile, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued guidance to critical infrastructure organizations to apply greater protections to operational technology (OT) in their environments:

  • Following a House Homeland Security Cybersecurity Subcommittee hearing this week, Congress is considering designating AI data centers and space-based technologies as critical infrastructure, Weslan Hansen reported in MeriTalk.
  • Similarly, Tim Starks of CyberScoop wrote that industry experts testified at a hearing of the subcommittee that data centers should receive a standalone designation as their own critical infrastructure sector. 
  • Additional testimony from the hearing highlighted staff cuts and other changes at CISA that have left the agency less ready to engage with the private sector on critical cyber issues, even as lawmakers eye new steps to address increasingly important sectors like space systems and data centers, Justin Doubleday reported in Federal News Network.
  • Covering the hearing for Nextgov/FCW, DiMolfetta noted that officials in Michigan and Georgia told the subcommittee that White House efforts to scale back the CISA’s election security resources have strained relationships with state and local officials, raising concerns that jurisdictions may be far less prepared to counter threats to the November midterms. 
  • In other CISA news, the agency this week asked owners and operators of OT to stop assuming their networks are safe and to adopt zero trust principles for industrial systems that support U.S. critical infrastructure such as power, water and transportation, according to an article by Gyana Swain in CSO.
  • Covering CISA’s directive for The Cyber Edge by SIGNAL, Lydia Antonio-Vila noted that the agency stated that risks to OT have increased as the systems have become more interconnected, digitally monitored and remotely operated. 
  • The guidance outlines how organizations can address challenges such as legacy system limitations, operational constraints and safety requirements associated with physical processes, according to a piece by Miles Jamison in ExecutiveGov.
  • To end on a positive note, Chris Riottareported in GovInfoSecurity that this week’s vote to end the longstanding shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security will allow CISA to resume work that had been curtailed during the shutdown, including proactive engagement with critical infrastructure operators, vulnerability coordination, election security support and cyber risk reduction efforts.

Upcoming Industry Events

As always, we want to keep you up to speed on upcoming industry events you might find interesting. See our list below to find out what’s happening in the coming week:

If you would like your event included in this list, please fill out this form.

Also, I would like to remind you all to register your votes for The Echo Awards, which recognize the stellar achievements of government technology mediareporters and editors – many of whom were cited above. These men and women work hard to keep us informed, so let’s show them our appreciation. Cast your votes here. The awards will be presented on June 11 from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at the Carahsoft Conference & Collaboration Center in Reston, Virginia, and veteran editors Anne A. Armstrong and Tom Temin will receive Lifetime Achievements Awards. Get tickets here.

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