Artificial Intelligence Acquisitions: Agencies Should Collect and Apply Lessons Learned to Improve Future Procurements

Federal agencies are rapidly expanding their use of artificial intelligence to improve mission delivery, cybersecurity, healthcare, defense and administrative operations. This GAO report reviews how agencies acquire AI technologies and identifies common procurement challenges, including defining requirements, protecting data rights, evaluating AI performance, managing costs and adapting traditional acquisition processes to rapidly evolving technologies. The report recommends agencies systematically capture and share lessons learned from AI procurements to improve future acquisitions, strengthen contract language, increase collaboration and reduce procurement risks across the federal government.