Defense contractors received more than $4.8 billion in AI-related contracts in fiscal year 2025, a 340% increase over FY2022. The dollars are moving fast. The oversight is not. A review of procurement records by The Dispatch found that fewer than 12% of AI contracts above $10 million include any performance benchmarks tied to disbursement, and fewer than 6% require independent verification of capability claims made during the bid process.
The pattern mirrors the early days of cybersecurity contracting — a high-urgency domain where technical opacity, classification barriers, and contractor lobbying combine to make congressional oversight structurally difficult.
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