Senator Joni Ernst seeks information about SBA’s artificial intelligence use cases and IT work

Senator Joni Ernst from Iowa is raising concerns about the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) management of its IT investments and its use of artificial intelligence, which she alleges has not been sufficiently disclosed. FedScoop reported that Ernst recently sent a letter to the SBA seeking details on how the agency is handling its IT investments through its IT Working Capital Fund, which she claims has been misused.

Additionally, Ernst is questioning the SBA’s transparency regarding its AI applications. Despite SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman’s public statements embracing AI, the agency’s AI use case inventory reportedly shows no uses of the technology. This discrepancy points to a potential lack of compliance with requirements initially established under a Trump-era executive order and later codified, which mandate agencies to disclose their AI uses on their websites.

Ernst highlighted inconsistencies, referencing a May 2023 press release where the SBA stated it would use AI tools for fraud review in certain loan programs, and a June 2023 release mentioning the use of AI to block fraudulent pandemic relief applications. Furthermore, Senator Ernst is seeking clarification on how the SBA plans to utilize its IT Working Capital Fund to improve its score under the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), noting that the SBA has shown declining performance in IT management and implementation of FITARA over the past three years, with scores not exceeding a C.