H.R. 3168: To establish a Joint Autonomy Office in the Department of Defense, and for other purposes.

This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to establish the Joint Autonomy Office to coordinate and accelerate the delivery of all-domain autonomous systems to operational users. Under the bill, an autonomous system means a system with the ability to conduct integrated sensing, perception, communication, decision-making, and action within specific boundaries and independently from a human operator's instruction.

The office may contract with private sector entities to aid and facilitate the execution of its duties. DOD must brief Congress on the status of the office not later than 90 days after the enactment of this bill.

The office must establish a department-wide classification framework for autonomous capabilities. The office must regularly reassess and update the framework to ensure it incorporates recent developments in technology, standards, and operational requirements relating to autonomous capabilities. The office must brief Congress on the results of the reassessments and any resulting revisions.

Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.