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Robert Huffman

Bob Huffman counsels government contractors on emerging technology issues, including artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, and software supply chain security, that are currently affecting federal and state procurement. His areas of expertise include the Department of Defense (DOD) and other agency acquisition regulations governing information security and the reporting of cyber incidents, the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program, the requirements for secure software development self-attestations and bills of materials (SBOMs) emanating from the May 2021 Executive Order on Cybersecurity, and the various requirements for responsible AI procurement, safety, and testing currently being implemented under the October 2023 AI Executive Order. 

Bob also represents contractors in False Claims Act (FCA) litigation and investigations involving cybersecurity and other technology compliance issues, as well more traditional government contracting costs, quality, and regulatory compliance issues. These investigations include significant parallel civil/criminal proceedings growing out of the Department of Justice's Cyber Fraud Initiative. They also include investigations resulting from False Claims Act qui tam lawsuits and other enforcement proceedings. Bob has represented clients in over a dozen FCA qui tam suits.

Bob also regularly counsels clients on government contracting supply chain compliance issues, including those arising under the Buy American Act/Trade Agreements Act and Section 889 of the FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act. In addition, Bob advises government contractors on rules relating to IP, including government patent rights, technical data rights, rights in computer software, and the rules applicable to IP in the acquisition of commercial products, services, and software. He focuses this aspect of his practice on the overlap of these traditional government contracts IP rules with the IP issues associated with the acquisition of AI services and the data needed to train the large learning models on which those services are based. 

Bob is ranked by Chambers USA for his work in government contracts and he writes extensively in the areas of procurement-related AI, cybersecurity, software security, and supply chain regulation. He also teaches a course at Georgetown Law School that focuses on the technology, supply chain, and national security issues associated with energy and climate change.

Contact:Read more about Robert HuffmanEmail

This is part of an ongoing series of Covington blogs on the AI policies, executive orders, and other actions of the Trump Administration.  This blog describes AI actions taken by the Trump Administration in March 2025, and prior articles in this series are available here.

White House Receives Public Comments on AI Action Plan

On March 15, the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy and the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development National Coordination Office within the National Science Foundation closed the comment period for public input on the White House’s AI Action Plan, following their issuance of a Request for Information (“RFI”) on the AI Action Plan on February 6.  As required by President Trump’s AI EO, the RFI called on stakeholders to submit comments on the highest priority policy actions that should be in the new AI Action Plan, centered around 20 broad and non-exclusive topics for potential input, including data centers, data privacy and security, technical and safety standards, intellectual property, and procurement, to inform an AI Action Plan to achieve the AI EO’s policy of “sustain[ing] and enhance[ing] America’s global AI dominance.”

The RFI resulted in 8,755 submitted comments, including submissions from nonprofit organizations, think tanks, trade associations, industry groups, academia, and AI companies.  The final AI Action Plan is expected by July of 2025.

NIST Launches New AI Standards InitiativesContinue Reading March 2025 AI Developments Under the Trump Administration

On April 3, the White House Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) released two memoranda with AI guidance and requirements for federal agencies, Memorandum M-25-21 on Accelerating Federal Use of AI through Innovation, Governance, and Public Trust (“OMB AI Use Memo“) and Memorandum M-25-22 on Driving Efficient Acquisition of Artificial Intelligence in Government (“OMB AI Procurement Memo”).  According to the White House’s fact sheet, the OMB AI Use and AI Procurement Memos (collectively, the “new OMB AI Memos”), which rescind and replace OMB memos on AI use and procurement issued under President Biden’s Executive Order 14110 (“Biden OMB AI Memos”), shift U.S. AI policy to a “forward-leaning, pro-innovation, and pro-competition mindset” that will make agencies “more agile, cost-effective, and efficient.”  The new OMB AI Memos implement President Trump’s January 23 Executive Order 14179 on “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence” (the “AI EO”), which directs the OMB to revise the Biden OMB AI Memos to make them consistent with the AI EO’s policy of “sustain[ing] and enhance[ing] America’s global AI dominance.” 

Overall, the new OMB AI Memos build on the frameworks established under President Trump’s 2020 Executive Order 13960 on “Promoting the Use of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in the Federal Government” and the Biden OMB AI Memos.  This is consistent with the AI EO, which noted that the Administration would “revise” the Biden AI Memos “as necessary.”  At the same time, the new OMB AI Memos include some significant differences from the Biden OMB’s approach in the areas discussed below (as well as other areas).Continue Reading OMB Issues First Trump 2.0-Era Requirements for AI Use and Procurement by Federal Agencies

This is part of an ongoing series of Covington blogs on the AI policies, executive orders, and other actions of the Trump Administration.  The first blog summarized key actions taken in the first weeks of the Trump Administration, including the revocation of President Biden’s 2023 Executive Order 14110 on the “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of AI” and the release of President Trump’s Executive Order 14179 on “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence” (“AI EO”).  This blog describes actions on AI taken by the Trump Administration in February 2025.Continue Reading February 2025 AI Developments Under the Trump Administration

Last month, DeepSeek, an AI start-up based in China, grabbed headlines with claims that its latest large language AI model, DeepSeek-R1, could perform on par with more expensive and market-leading AI models despite allegedly requiring less than $6 million dollars’ worth of computing power from older and less-powerful chips.  Although some industry observers have raised doubts about the validity of DeepSeek’s claims, its AI model and AI-powered application piqued the curiosity of many, leading the DeepSeek application to become the most downloaded in the United States in late January.  DeepSeek was founded in July 2023 and is owned by High-Flyer, a hedge fund based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang.

The explosive popularity of DeepSeek coupled with its Chinese ownership has unsurprisingly raised data security concerns from U.S. Federal and State officials.  These concerns echo many of the same considerations that led to a FAR rule that prohibits telecommunications equipment and services from Huawei and certain other Chinese manufacturers.  What is remarkable here is the pace at which officials at different levels of government—including the White House, Congress, federal agencies, and state governments, have taken action in response to DeepSeek and its perceived risks to national security.  Continue Reading U.S. Federal and State Governments Moving Quickly to Restrict Use of DeepSeek

This is the first in a new series of Covington blogs on the AI policies, executive orders, and other actions of the new Trump Administration.  This blog describes key actions on AI taken by the Trump Administration in January 2025.

Outgoing President Biden Issues Executive Order and Data Center Guidance for AI Infrastructure

Before turning to the Trump Administration, we note one key AI development from the final weeks of the Biden Administration.  On January 14, in one of his final acts in office, President Biden issued Executive Order 14141 on “Advancing United States Leadership in AI Infrastructure.”  This EO, which remains in force, sets out requirements and deadlines for the construction and operation of “frontier AI infrastructure,” including data centers and clean energy facilities, by private-sector entities on federal land.  Specifically, EO 14141 directs the Departments of Defense (“DOD”) and Energy (“DOE”) to lease federal lands for the construction and operation of AI data centers and clean energy facilities by the end of 2027, establishes solicitation and lease application processes for private sector applicants, directs federal agencies to take various steps to streamline and consolidate environmental permitting for AI infrastructure, and directs the DOE to take steps to update the U.S. electricity grid to meet the growing energy demands of AI. Continue Reading January 2025 AI Developments – Transitioning to the Trump Administration

On February 6, the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (“OSTP”) and National Science Foundation (“NSF”) issued a Request for Information (“RFI”) seeking public input on the “Development of an Artificial Intelligence Action Plan.”  The RFI marks a first step toward the implementation of the Trump Administration’s January 23 Executive Order 14179, “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence” (the “EO”).  Specifically, the EO directs Assistant to the President for Science & Technology (and OSTP Director nominee) Michael Kratsios, White House AI & Crypto Czar David Sacks, and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz to “develop and submit to the President an action plan” to achieve the EO’s policy of “sustain[ing] and enhance[ing] America’s global AI dominance” to “promote human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security.” Continue Reading Trump Administration Seeks Public Comment on AI Action Plan

On January 14, 2025, the Biden Administration issued an Executive Order on “Advancing United States Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure” (the “EO”), with the goals of preserving U.S. economic competitiveness and access to powerful AI models, preventing U.S. dependence on foreign infrastructure, and promoting U.S. clean energy production to power the development and operation of AI.  Pursuant to these goals, the EO outlines criteria and timeframes for the construction and operation of “frontier AI infrastructure,” including data centers and clean energy resources, by private-sector entities on federal land.  The EO builds upon a series of actions on AI issued by the Biden Administration, including the October 2023 Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy AI and an October 2024 AI National Security Memorandum.Continue Reading Biden Administration Releases Executive Order on AI Infrastructure

This is part of an ongoing series of Covington blogs on implementation of Executive Order 14028, “Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity,” issued by President Biden on May 12, 2021 (the “Cyber EO”).  The first blog summarized the Cyber EO’s key provisions and timelines, and subsequent blogs described the actions taken by various government agencies to implement the Cyber EO from June 2021 through June 2024.  This blog describes key actions taken to implement the Cyber EO, as well as the U.S. National Cybersecurity Strategy, during July 2024.  It also describes key actions taken during July 2024 to implement President Biden’s Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence (the “AI EO”), particularly its provisions that impact cybersecurity, national security, and software supply chain security.Continue Reading July 2024 Developments Under President Biden’s Cybersecurity Executive Order, National Cybersecurity Strategy, and AI Executive Order

On March 28, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released guidance on governance and risk management for federal agency use of artificial intelligence (AI).  The guidance was issued in furtherance of last fall’s White House AI Executive Order, which established goals to promote the safe, secure, and trustworthy use and development of AI systems.Continue Reading OMB Issues First Governmentwide AI Policy for Federal Agencies

U.S. federal agencies and working groups have promulgated a number of issuances in January 2023 related to the development and use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) systems.  These updates join proposals in Congress to pass legislation related to AI.  Specifically, in January 2023, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) updated Department of Defense Directive 3000.09 and the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (“NAIRR”) Task Force Final Report on AI; the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) released its AI Risk Management Framework, each discussed below.Continue Reading Roundup of January 2023 Artificial Intelligence Developments