About this episode

The episode discusses the risks and ethical concerns surrounding AI in federal procurement with Jessica Tillipman.

In this episode, Tom Fox welcomes Jessica Tillipman, Associate Dean for Government Procurement Law Studies; Government Contracts Advisory Council Distinguished Professorial Lecturer in Government Contracts Law, Practice & Policy. We take a deep dive into federal procurement and compliance. We begin with Tillipman’s recent article “Buying Blind: Corruption Risk and the Erosion of Oversight in Federal AI Procurement.” Tillipman explains how her initial focus on AI as a tool to reduce procurement risk shifted after finding instances of AI exploitation and U.S. regulatory changes, raising concerns that contracting practices (commercial terms, limited audit rights, reduced testing and documentation) worsen AI’s inherent opacity. She contrasts government contracting’s “superpower” rights with transparency and competition mandates tied to taxpayer funds and discusses procurement tradeoffs between speed and oversight. Tillipman distinguishes fraud from waste and abuse, warning against conflating categories. She analyzes GSA’s proposed AI clause as overdue but overly broad and potentially unworkable, and stresses the importance of explainability, human oversight, and due process for…

People in this episode

Host: Thomas Fox

Guest: Jessica Tillipman

Topics covered

• AI Procurement
• Federal Procurement
• Compliance Risks
• Government Contracting
• Corruption
• Oversight
• Fraud and Abuse

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Government Contracts Advisory Council, GSA

Books & works: Buying Blind: Corruption Risk and the Erosion of Oversight in Federal AI Procurement

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