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Cost Estimating NewsBrief: October 30, 2026
Industry, legal experts urge FAR Council to set standards for AI in federal procurement
(Federal News Network) Industry and legal experts are urging the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council to adopt rules around the government’s use of artificial intelligence in federal procurement. In September, the FAR Council released a second set of four proposed rules as part of the Federal Acquisition Regulation overhaul. The council accepted public comments on the proposed rules through Oct. 19. In the wake of a lawsuit alleging that the Army misused artificial intelligence in bid evaluation, legal experts say now is the time for the FAR Council to address federal agencies’ use of AI during the acquisition process in the FAR. Read More
What do agencies get now that USAi isn’t free? GSA doing the ‘boring’ work for them
(FedScoop) USAi may no longer be free, but a General Services Administration official has a pitch for agencies on the fence about adoption: GSA will save you months in acquisition time and handle the “boring” stuff. Launched in August 2025 as a no-cost tool for federal agencies to experiment with AI models, USAi pricing was introduced last month. Per the GSA’s website, agencies will now pay a “platform fee plus passthrough usage costs” for USAi. Ryan Palmer, architecture lead for AI at GSA, didn’t directly address the new pay-for model during a Federal News Network webinar Tuesday, but he made the case for why the shared service is worth it for agencies. Read More
DHS personnel leak exposes contact details and sensitive job information
(NextGov/FCW) Searchable records identifying more than 41,000 current and former Department of Homeland Security employees and contractors were published Wednesday, exposing contact information and details about sensitive assignments across the department, according to the organizations behind the release. The transparency nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets — known as DDoSecrets — said it received the data from a hacktivist group calling itself the Department of Peace. The group claimed to have obtained the records through an identity service used by DHS. Famed Swiss hacker and journalist known as “maia arson crimew” also had involvement. She said in an X post that she was not involved in procuring the data and “worked on this story as a journalist conducting source work, research and data work.” Read More
DHS sunsets its Acquisition Planning Forecast System
(FedScoop) The Department of Homeland Security is planning to shut down its Acquisition Planning Forecast System at the end of the week, per a notice posted to the website Tuesday. No new DHS procurement forecasts will be entered on APFS effective Oct. 30. DHS instructed industry to visit a landing page on its site beginning Nov. 5. A member of the agency’s Office of the Chief Procurement Officer told FedScoop that the migration will occur during that downtime. In the interim, forecast opportunities will not be available to view. “On December 9th, if you have a subscription service in the current APFS system those same parameters will be good and you will start getting automatic notifications,” Read More
ICEAA’s NewsBrief is a collection of articles relevant to the cost estimating and analysis community that is delivered weekly to current ICEAA members. To advertise in NewsBrief, contact [email protected].