The top Democrat, who is in charge of the Senate’s agenda, discussed policy with Smith including two bills that are making their way through Congress right now related to increasing Big Tech competition, the journalism industry, and data privacy, four sources familiar with the meeting told FedScoop.

If they become law, the bills discussed during the meeting could force Microsoft and other big tech vendors to change how they operate in consumer and federal markets.

In particular, Senate bills S.2992 and S.2710 would restrict the collection and use of internal vendor data and place restrictions on Big Tech companies related to installing and uninstalling software on their products.

Schumer was spotted in Bellevue, Washington last week and is expected to have traveled to the state to meet with tech executives like Smith and for fundraising purposes.

Liberal advocacy groups have recently called on Schumer to disclose any “dark money” or hidden funds that he and other Democrats have received from Big Tech companies like Microsoft in order to remove the appearance of any conflict of interest.

The American Innovation and Choice Online Act (S.2992), would prevent tech giants like Amazon from unduly favoring their own products on their websites or creating cheaper copycats of existing products using internal data.

Meanwhile, the Open App Markets Act (S.2710) would regulate the management of Apple, Google and potentially Microsoft’s app stores, which advocates say would enable greater competition on the platforms.

These are the two most significant antitrust bills that Schumer supports, and which the Senate majority leader is expected to bring up for a vote later this summer. The bills, which have bipartisan backing, are expected to have enough support pass within Congress and become law if they are bought up for a vote.

The legislation could make it more challenging for Microsoft to bundle its software programs like Microsoft Office, Microsoft Teams, One Drive cloud services and others that it sells together or pre-installs to customers in consumer and federal markets. This could give rivals to Microsoft Teams like Zoom and Slack more of a chance to compete for consumers and federal contracts.

Smith has been unclear and noncommittal regarding Microsoft’s stance on the AICOA, telling Geekwire in June that “We’re not trying to lobby in favor of the bill. But that doesn’t mean we’re opposing it either.”

The bill provides a big boost to tech critics and anti-monopolists by creating new rules of the road for Big Tech platforms such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon.

“If Microsoft is being wishy washy about the bill, it probably means they’re opposed to it for some reason or the other,” a source familiar with the meeting said.

Microsoft has avoided much of the antitrust scrutiny from Congress, federal agencies, and the public in the past two years while supporting some of the antitrust bills that would hurt Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google which has angered Microsoft’s fellow tech giants.

Some Republicans, like Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary committee which regulates the tech industry, have even called for Microsoft to face the same antitrust scrutiny as other large tech platforms.

Sen. Schumer and Smith also discussed the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at helping the news industry get better compensation for content posted on Big Tech platforms such as Google and Facebook, which Microsoft’s web portal and search engine compete with.

The two leaders also had conversations about online data privacy and regulations around it. Many tech giants have come under fire for their controversial data-gathering and usage practices that often secretly infringe on users’ privacy.

Democrats and Republicans favor establishing a national privacy standard to hold Big Tech companies more accountable for how they gather and use the data they collect but there is no consensus on how to do this within a comprehensive piece of legislation.

Microsoft’s pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard and related investments and jobs that could be created within the Capitol Region of New York was also discussed during the meeting, two people said. Schumer also pushed Microsoft to invest more in the video game industry of the region when he met with Smith in February of this year.

Microsoft declined to comment for the story.

A spokesman for Sen. Schumer did not respond to request for comment.

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Billed as the world’s first “multi-sovereign” venture capital fund involving 22 nations, it is intended to make long-term investments in startups and other entities developing emerging technologies that the alliance is interested in including artificial intelligence, autonomy, big-data processing, quantum-enabled technologies, biotechnology and human enhancement; novel materials; energy; propulsion and space.

“This fund is unique,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a signing ceremony at a summit in Madrid where alliance leaders inked a letter of commitment pledging to support the initiative. “With a 15-year timeframe, the NATO Innovation Fund will help bring to life those nascent technologies that have the power to transform our security in the decades to come, strengthening the Alliance’s innovation ecosystem and bolstering the security of our one billion citizens.”

The summit was attended by President Biden, his alliance counterparts and other world leaders.

Together with the new Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA), the fund will help the alliance “harness the best new technology for transatlantic security,” Stoltenberg said at a press conference Wednesday. The DIANA initiative will provide innovators access to facilities that they can tap into, including more than 60 test centers across Europe and North America.

DIANA “will support NATO’s efforts to boost interoperability and ensure that every Ally has access to cutting-edge technological solutions for military needs,” according to a White House fact sheet released Wednesday.

The United States will contribute to that initiative by facilitating access to U.S. test centers and other technology “accelerator sites” in the “extensive and diverse U.S. innovation sector,” according to the White House.

During the summit, NATO also unveiled a new Strategic Concept that emphasized the need to adopt emerging technologies to improve the alliance’s defense capabilities.

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The company announced Friday it earned a $116 million option year extension on its $458 million-ceiling contract it initially won in December 2019. The system is an “integrated data platform,” meaning it uses software to combine data sources from across the Army into a single common operation picture, according to Palantir.

Palantir’s contract for the Vantage program was structured as an initial base year, followed by three option years.

“The Army Vantage program is the cornerstone of the Army’s ability to make data driven decisions across the force” said Doug Philippone, global defense lead at Palantir Technologies. “This partnership reinforces what industry and government can do at speed to solve hard problems.”

Army Vantage has recently been used to track COVID-19 immunization rates, tracking weapons and monitoring soldiers behavior. It’s overall goal is to provide a central system for leaders to makers to make data-informed decisions.

“The Army Vantage platform was established to enable users to make data driven decisions, allowing the Army to leverage its data as a strategic asset,” the company said in a release.

Palantir’s says it has helped generate and integrate over 30,000 unique data sets from over 160 distinct systems since the program was launched.

Palantir’s CEO, Alex Karp, recently spoke at the Reagan National Defense Forum defending its work with the military, pushing back against sustained criticism from other tech companies.

“I think the first thing that industry needs to do is affirm that if it’s going to work with adversaries it should always supply as least as good technology to our services and people who are defending our nation,” Karp said.

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Akerman previously held the role of data strategy director at the Air Force, and joined the National Guard in September.

In the new post, his formal title is IT specialist (policy and planning/data management), and he reports to the National Guard Bureau’s J6 Chief Information Office.

According to LinkedIn, Akerman has also held roles at Booz Allen Hamilton and at the United Nations Population Fund. Earlier in his career, he was a lead IT specialist at the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

His appointment comes as other military services install new senior leaders to improve their use of data. Earlier this month the Defense Information Systems Agency established an Office of the Chief Data Officer to enhance the sharing and integration of data across the organization.

The National Guard has nearly half a million members that work full time jobs and are on stand-by to be deployed to local disasters or to oversees military missions. With so many members, comes troves of data. Hokanson said he hopes Akerman can identify outdated processes the guard uses and get rid of “those things that we just don’t need to do anymore, because they’re no longer relevant.”

The guard already uses data tools in some of its missions. When deployed to fight wildfires in places like California, the guard uses an artificial intelligence tool initially developed by the DOD’s Joint AI Center to track wildfire lines.

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The deal will give the VA new tools to integrate data from across its health and benefits systems into its Common Operating Platform (COP), a move Palantir says will give leaders deeper insights into the services the department offers veterans. The value of the deal is $90 million over four years, according to Palantir.

Palantir was awarded numerous contracts with health agencies during the coronavirus pandemic to track the spread of the disease. It had a pilot with the VA as well, but officials with the company say this contract marks the first full award the company has received.

One challenge that Palantir’s tech aims to address is collecting data on wait times in private hospitals that veterans can use as a result of the MISSION act, that opened up private hospital services to VA patients. Palantir hopes to provide VA executives deeper insight on the quality of care veterans are receiving.

Palantir officials said the VA will retain ownership of all of its data and the system will link into existing IT and data platforms within the VA.

The type of decisions the company hopes to support include giving VA leaders insight on when and where to hire more doctors, the quality of services veterans are being offered both in and out of VA hospitals, and what benefits veterans might be eligible for.

Palantir’s tech may also process data on the VA’s troubled Electronic Health Records modernization program. The $16 billion, 10-year program to remake the entire health IT system medical providers use with patients has earned several negative Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Inspector General reviews, some which recommended the program be paused to ensure more testing could be done on the system.

The company has previously worked with the VA on Covid-19 surveillance pilots, but officials said this is the first full contract the department was awarded the company. The contracting offices span across the Office of Enterprise Integration, Veterans Health Administration and Office of Information Technology.

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The new directives are based off recent “Data Decrees” signed by the Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks in May, which give specific advice on data management and call on senior leaders to use the DOD’s Advana platform as a central repository for data analysis that is used to support decision making.

The latest requirements are intended to support the development artificial intelligence systems within the DOD, which require access to vast datasets in order to learn new capabilities. In the private sector, tech giants such as Amazon, Apple and Microsoft have long relied on access to such pools of data for the development of AI-supported search functions such as Alexa and Siri.

“Thee simple requirement will be from this day forward all data form the Department of Defense … will be accessible. period. It has to be that way, there can be no other alternative,” Hyten said.

“Services will have to build their systems to meet that requirement,” he added.

Hyten said that without interoperable and accessible data, further dreams like implementing artificial intelligence can’t become a reality.

Hyten also urged the department to adopt enterprise cloud computing capabilities. Not mentioning the stalled Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) by name, Hyten said that without a “real cloud” the DOD won’t be able to use and store all of the newly interoperable and accessible data.

Once the DOD has large, accessible data sets and the cloud capabilities to turn that data in to intelligence, networking together operations across the domains of air, land, sea, space and cyberspace operations will be the new means the DOD thinks about deterrence.

“That will create a deterrent that is nearly as powerful as our nuclear deterrent,” Hyten, who used to lead Strategic Command which controls the U.S. nuclear arsenal, said.

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Under the scheme, two types of teams will be embedded: operational data teams, which are focused on creating new tools and policies, and “flyaway teams” that are parachuted in to assist on specific problem sets.

The initiative is part of the DOD’s work to implement its Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) strategy, which outlines a vision in which a military internet of things and data become central to the theater of war.

Hicks said the new data teams will bring “top tier talent and technology” to modernize the data and IT infrastructure combatant commands rely on and the policies that dictate data usage. They will start with a 90-day window to make improvements.

Artificial intelligence is to be used to sift through the large amounts of data being generated as part of the JADC2 strategy. AI systems in command centers will have the power to communicate directly with each other.

The strategy for how JADC2 could modernize military operations was signed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in May, giving the department the approval to move ahead on new initiatives like AIDA.

The technology that is intended to drive JADC2 has largely yet to materialize. That’s one of the problems the new operational and flyaway teams will work on, building out the data platforms and AI infrastructure that will form the basis of the strategy.

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The strategy defines how the military services will approach connecting sensors in the air, land, sea, space and cyberspace and use a networked approach to operations. Secretary Lloyd Austin signing the JADC2 strategy marks the beginning of implementing much of the nascent work the military has started, from testing new technologies and developing new concept of operations to use them.

“We have been given the clear signal to begin,” Lt. Gen. Dennis Crall, chief information officer for the Joint Staff and director of the J-6, which oversees all of the military’s command and control networks, said. “It’s outcome delivery time.”

JADC2 is intended to give the U.S. a greater military advantage by allowing for data sharing through a global, resilient network. Advocates of the new concept say that if a fighter jet can automatically share data with a soldier on the ground, the two units can coordinate more easily.

Within the JADC2 framework, each military service has its own project. The Army has Project Convergence and the Air Force has the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS). Both are focused on implementing the JADC2 framework, but with their own focuses on areas on things like increasing the precision of ground munitions for Project Convergence, and in-flight data sharing for ABMS. The Navy also has Project Overmatch, focused on building seafaring networks.

One of the critical points of the new strategy is coordinating the disparate efforts across the military into one interoperable framework of technology and operations. The strategy relies on a cross functional team (CTF) that has members from the across the department that can coordinate between services that often do not like working with each other.

“The CTF, that is the widest table setting you can imagine to get after these problems,” Crall told reporters Friday. He added, “we have had pieces of this in the past, we have never had this compressively put together.”

Crall added that the DOD need an enterprise cloud solution for work on JADC2 to continue past experimentation, whether that is the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) or some other contract. JEDI continues to be stuck in legal limbo, with continued protests from Amazon Web Services over the two-time award to Microsoft Azure.

“Where I am at today…I am able to take advantage of that multi-cloud provision,” he said, referring to the DOD’s current cloud offerings. “I think the real question is…how long can you do that?”

Security for any joined-up data sharing system remains a principal concern, and Crall highlighted the need for the DOD to improve identity, credentialing and access management (ICAM) on JADC2 networks.

“If we don’t have a real ICAM solution it will be impossible,” he said.

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Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin emphasized the need to depart from previous ways of waging war and focus on new, technology-driven tools and strategies during his first major speech, given in Honolulu at the change of command ceremony for Indo-Pacific Command last Friday. The same message was echoed later that same day by Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks, who said that the department must “aggressively take steps to be a data-centric organization” and create new ways to use data in the field and in command centers.

These remarks designate a much more specific stance than in past administrations around building a military force of the future that is dependent on tech.

They want “to mark a departure from the approach of DOD under [former Secretary of Defense James] Mattis,” Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told FedScoop about the leaders’ remarks.

Mattis focused on traditional lethality and readiness during his two years as President Trump’s secretary of defense, rather than the long-term technology-driven competition. And Mark Esper, Trump’s second confirmed defense secretary, often referenced artificial intelligence changing the “character” of warfare, but rarely spoke on its applications or specific uses.

But Austin and Hicks are taking a very different, much more direct approach when it comes to tech. “Our fiscal year [2022] budget will provide early insight into our strategic approach,” Hicks said at the Aspen Security Forum. “It will support defense research, development, test and evaluation funding. This will lead to breakthrough technologies that drive innovation and underpin the development of next-generation defense capabilities.”

While not mentioned directly by either Hicks or Austin, both implicitly pushed the capability that the new digital concept of operations called Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) promises to deliver. The idea is to create a so-called “internet of military things” where weapons can share data to enable distributed, speedier decision-making. It’s a wonky topic that has been getting increasing nods of support from leaders in public.

“In this young century, we need to understand faster, decide faster, and act faster,” Austin said in his speech. “Our new computing power isn’t an academic exercise.”

Austin also foot-stomped the domains where threats are increasingly proliferating: space and cyberspace.

“So what we need is the right mix of technology, operational concepts, and capabilities — all woven together in a networked way that is so credible, flexible, and formidable that it will give any adversary pause,” he said.

Hicks directly identified China as the leading threat driving the department’s accelerated tech-driven push. China has the advantage of combining its economic, military and tech capabilities to challenge U.S. interests, she said.

And while China is the top threat, it isn’t the only one. “We have never had the luxury of being faced with only one threat,” she said.

This landscape will require the DOD to overcome “institutional inertia” and find new processes that can keep pace with rapid changes to capabilities. Hicks stressed the need to change the budgeting process to account for what the DOD needs to buy, including software and tech that changes faster than the current two-year cycle allows for.

“Platforms will always matter, but it’s the software…it’s those pieces that make such a critical difference in our capability,” she said. “That’s a different funding picture.”

Neither Austin nor Hicks detailed exactly how their view of tech-driven warfare will play out. But that was to be expected, Clark said. With the department’s full budget request coming in late May, they wanted to keep their cards close to the chest.

“They started out in a very aligned point,” he said. “That’s different and I think that’s useful for them.”

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The document, published by the Enterprise Cloud Management Agency, outlines the need for services to help enable the type of information collection and processing it needs to win in the future and modernize business practices. The current state of data management is scattered and doesn’t allow the Army to gain insights across different mission areas from cybersecurity to logistics, according to the document.

“[T]he Army must fundamentally transform its approach to data governance and data management, which requires a standardized, secure, trusted, agile and resilient set of data management services and a data platform to serve all common data governance needs across all data domains,” the RFI states.

The scope of what the Army wants is broad, with the desired platform being able to reach across different security classifications of networks and even coalition networks that allied militaries use to work with the U.S. The point of having one platform with standard services is to allow users to view wide arrays of datasets and glean deeper insights into Army operations from business analytics to warfighting.

Some examples of how the Army expects to use its new platform include ingesting a wide array of data and standardizing it on demand, working with the Army’s native cloud environment cARMY and supporting advanced analytics like artificial intelligence and machine learning.

“The Platform enables analytical work products, perform advanced data analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) and data visualization at an enterprise level,” the RFI states in its section on foreseen usage scenarios.

The Army is not looking to burn down its current data tools and start from scratch. Instead, it wants whatever platform and services it receives from industry to include the modernization of its current set of data management tools.

The Army will be hosting an industry day event in May to answer questions on the request.

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