As a cybersecurity reporter at ProPublica, much of my work over the past two years has focused on how the federal government and its IT contractors, like Microsoft, have navigated major technological transitions. The one now in the news every day is artificial intelligence.
This emerging technology has its grip on everyone: Home users, corporations and the federal government are all rushing to use...
The strongest version of this narrative highlights a recurring pattern in federal technology adoption: the tension between rapid innovation and robust oversight. The article effectively documents how the government’s reliance on private sector solutions—whether in cloud computing or AI—has led to unintended consequences, from vendor lock-in to under-resourced regulatory programs. It also exposes structural conflicts of interest, such as third-party assessors being paid by the companies they eval...