AI-powered decision intelligence solutions provider for defense and national security BigBear.ai has won a contract from the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) to help the federal agency leverage custom AI models to better analyze news media coming from countries that may be foreign adversaries.
The news sent the AI company’s stock surging nearly 35% in the past week and 211% over the past year, reflecting strong investor confidence in government contracts, according to Investing.com.
Despite the strength of BigBear.ai’s stock, InvestingPro analysis indicates the stock “currently appears overvalued relative to its Fair Value, and analysts do not expect profitability this year,’’ the company said. “BigBear.ai’s future performance may also be affected by competition and other risks outlined in the company’s SEC filings.”
AI system aims to flag and predict adversaries’ media
Under the terms of the contract, BigBear.ai will develop its Virtual Anticipation Network (VANE) prototype for the CDAO. Using AI and machine learning, the VANE system is designed to aggregate and analyze a wide variety of data points. The goal is to assist the CDAO’s ability to identify key trends and topics related to areas of interest by potential foreign adversaries. The system is also designed to predict adversarial activities in multi-domain environments and provide clear insights to support U.S. military and intelligence operations.
“By advancing VANE within CDAO, we are arming our warfighters with sophisticated intelligence capabilities to leverage foreign insights critical to the safety of our Nation and those protecting it,” said Ryan Legge, president of national security at BigBear.ai in a statement.
The VANE system received the “awardable” status on the CDAO Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace in April 2024.
The contract includes a transition plan for VANE with the goal of future deployment on the CDAO’s Advana enterprise data and analytics platform, which proves access to a large set of DoD data across various systems. This would expand access to the advanced AI capabilities across the DoD’s Combatant Commands.
VANE pegged for additional government services
BigBear.ai was also recently awarded a DoD contract to use the VANE prototype for geopolitical risk analysis, and the company has secured a contract under the Department of the Navy’s SeaPort Next Generation program to provide technical and engineering services to the U.S. Navy and other federal agencies, according to Investing.com