Class Deviation

For just over a year, the federal government has been running a strange experiment in technology procurement. Through its OneGov program, the General Services Administration (GSA) put leading enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) platforms in agencies’ hands for $1 or less. Three of those offers were set to expire on September 30, 2026.

Now we know what comes next, at least for one of them. On September 10, GSA announced the first agreement in the next phase of its OneGov AI strategy. The $1 price was replaced by a 27-month consumption-based arrangement running from October 1, 2026, through December 31, 2028. During this period, agencies pay no platform fee and make no minimum commitment, but they pay for usage at 50% off token-based pricing. Usage eligibility extends not only to all three federal branches but also to state, local, and tribal governments. GSA notes that the deal includes a one-year check-in and requires providers to report utilization and cost-savings data (feeling very transactional data reporting-esque).

So the free trial isn’t exactly over, but the flat price that never rose with use is gone. That changes the question for agencies. It’s no longer about whether to try it; it’s about what the technology costs at scale and what it would cost to exit.

Continue Reading The $1 AI Honeymoon Is Over, and GSA Has Drafted a Postnup

If you have opened a federal solicitation this year and felt like you were reading two rulebooks stapled together, you were not imagining it. Since the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) overhaul began, agencies have been buying under class deviations while the FAR Council works on making the new text official. The result is a generation of solicitations that cite the overhauled FAR in one clause and the old one in the next. Now the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has weighed in, and its answer is one part sympathy and three parts homework.

Continue Reading Not a Model of Clarity: GAO Takes Its First Hard Look at Solicitations That Mix the Old FAR with the New

On April 8, 2020, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) issued a Class Deviation authorizing contracting officers to use a new cost principle – DFARS 231.205-79, CARES Act Section 3610 Implementation – to permit the reimbursement of certain leave-related costs incurred by contractors in accordance with Section 3610 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Pub. L. 116-136).  Additional clarification regarding the application of the new cost principle was issued on April 9, 2020, through the publication of a “living” FAQ document intended to answer critical questions for contractors.  While the FAQ information does not clarify the Government’s position on all potential issues associated with the implementation of Section 3610, it does provide a blueprint that contractors seeking reimbursement should follow.
Continue Reading DoD CARES After All – New Cost Principle and DFARS Clause Implements CARES Act for Certain COVID-19 Costs