Key Tech and Workforce Highlights in the U.S. 2025 Intel Authorization Bill—An NDAA Pillar

The United States’ fiscal 2025 Intelligence Authorization Act offers a broad mix of priorities, touching on everything from workforce development to analyzing China’s advancements in biotechnology. Folded into the final 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, the bill avoids sweeping reforms or flashy provisions. Instead, it focuses on steady progress in key areas, urging the intelligence community to strengthen efforts in geospatial intelligence, AI security, and other emerging domains.

China in Focus: Biotechnology and Security Concerns

The 2025 Intelligence Authorization Bill sharpens its focus on the People’s Republic of China (PRC), calling for detailed reports on topics ranging from China’s biotechnology advancements to its efforts to bypass U.S. national security regulations. One key requirement is that the director of national intelligence must send congressional committees a “comprehensive assessment” on the recruitment and training of Mandarin Chinese speakers, with the report due within 180 days.

Biosecurity and biological threats also feature prominently in the legislation. Beyond the China-specific reports, the bill mandates the creation of a new intelligence strategy to counter attempts by U.S. adversaries to exploit biotechnologies “in ways that threaten United States national security.” This strategy is aimed at enhancing the country’s defense against emerging biological risks.

The bill also strengthens the role of the National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center. It requires the center to ensure better coordination between the intelligence community, private sector entities, and federal agencies. This will help to “enhance coordination on information relevant to biosecurity, biotechnology, and foreign biological threats,” ensuring a more unified approach to tackling these pressing national security concerns. The center is also tasked with sharing this critical information with relevant federal departments and agencies, in an attempt to reinforce a united approach to biosecurity challenges.

NSA’s AI Security Center: Now a Statutory Priority

In addition to addressing concerns around China, the 2025 Intelligence Authorization Bill also focuses on securing emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI). The bill officially establishes the National Security Agency’s (NSA) new Artificial Intelligence Security Center by putting it into statute. Created last September within the NSA’s Cybersecurity Collaboration Center, the center now has a formal mandate to tackle key responsibilities. These include developing guidance to prevent adversaries from tampering with U.S. AI systems and promoting the secure use of AI within classified national security systems.

Over the past year, the center has already made strides in meeting these goals. Earlier this year, it published its first unclassified guidance on “deploying secure and resilient AI systems.” Officials also aim to build relationships with leading AI companies to prevent foreign nations from interfering with or stealing U.S. AI advancements.

The new legislation also ensures the AI Security Center’s future by prohibiting the NSA from disestablishing it for at least three years, securing its role in safeguarding AI systems crucial to national security.

Spotlight on Key Tech and Workforce Priorities: Public-Private Exchange

The public-private talent exchange program is getting a boost under the 2025 Intelligence Authorization Bill, with new measures to strengthen its impact. One major update extends the duration of temporary assignments for participants, allowing intelligence officers and private sector employees to work together for up to five years, rather than the previous three.

To ensure security and fairness, the program includes safeguards. Private sector participants are explicitly prohibited from accessing trade secrets or proprietary information that could give their companies a competitive edge. This maintains a clear boundary between collaboration and confidentiality.

The program focuses on critical areas such as commercial space, artificial intelligence and machine learning, finance and economic security, and human capital—sectors essential to national and economic security. By targeting these fields, the exchange program aims to address pressing challenges with shared expertise.

Launched in 2023 by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the initiative has a clear goal: to equip intelligence officers with private-sector insights and technologies while giving private-sector professionals an understanding of how the intelligence community operates. Together, these efforts create a collaborative bridge, benefiting both sectors.

Streamlining Security Clearances: Boosting Recruitment with Polygraph Data & Geospatial Workforce Pilot

Lawmakers are pushing intelligence agencies to accelerate their recruitment process, particularly by streamlining the security clearance procedure, with polygraph examinations being a significant bottleneck. A recent report highlights that these exams can take anywhere from 30 days to 18 months to complete due to a shortage of qualified examiners. To address this, the new intelligence authorization bill mandates the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to report to Congress on the timeliness of polygraph examinations, incorporating this data into its regular reports on personnel vetting timelines. Additionally, the bill directs the Pentagon to launch a pilot program to assess the feasibility of developing a skilled workforce in geospatial technologies to support the Department of Defense’s geospatial intelligence needs.

Author

Bernice Lottering