The General Services Administration (GSA) released its Generative AI and Specialized Computing Infrastructure Acquisition Resource Guide on Monday to support the Federal acquisition community when purchasing generative AI solutions and related computing infrastructure.
GSA said it will update the buyer’s guide as AI technologies develop. The release of the guide met a 180-day deadline set by President Biden’s AI executive order issued on Oct. 30, 2023.
“This guide is a key part of our commitment to equipping the Federal community to responsibly and effectively deploy generative AI technologies to benefit the American people,” GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan said in a press release.
“This new guide lays out the common challenges, use cases, and other helpful information to support government as it navigates the growing AI marketplace and starts to leverage the power of AI to better deliver for the American people,” she said.
The guide offers questions that contracting officers should ask and a process to use when considering a generative AI acquisition. It also features examples of generative AI in government, recommendations on how to use testbeds and sandboxes before committing to large-scale buys, and considerations for managing and protecting data.
“Generative AI technology will continue to evolve and we know that this resource guide should continue to evolve with it,” said Laura Stanton, GSA’s assistant commissioner for the Office of Information Technology Category (ITC), who also posted a blog discussing the guide.
“Contracting officers will play a critical role by working closely with program and IT staff to find, source, acquire and make secure the right generative AI solutions for agencies’ needs,” Stanton added. “This guide is a start to help the acquisition community enable their agencies to responsibly harness the power of this promising technology and better serve the American people.”
