NSA spending billions of dollars a year testing frontier AI models, sources say

coherence · x · 2026-10-08

Citing two sources familiar with classified estimates, the NSA is spending billions in taxpayer funds this year evaluating frontier AI models.

The NSA's AI Security Center runs the tests to identify national security vulnerabilities, prompted by a string of high-profile hacking incidents.
The cost is far higher than previously known, leading lawmakers to estimate a comprehensive AI regulatory system could cost tens of billions per year.
The Trump administration has resisted federal AI oversight proposals, but the ballooning price tag may renew calls for frontier labs to shoulder the review costs themselves.

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