An under-the-radar procurement program led by the Department of Defense has been granting special statuses to would-be defense contractors that make it easier for the government to quickly purchase their AI offerings, based on product videos that must be no longer than five minutes.
It’s part of the Pentagon’s desperate bid to inject competition in a market the United States military itself destroyed.
The initiative, known as Tradewinds, is managed by DOD’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO.) Companies can submit videos describing how their AI products address one of several different “strategic focus areas” that the government periodically updates. At least once a month, a panel of judges review submissions and decide whether to accept them into the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace, where the videos can then be viewed by government officials.
If accepted, the pitched products are considered “post-competitive.” Many procurement regulations include competitive requirements. The status can let government buyers check off that box and potentially help shave months off of award timelines. A DOD official says that in several instances, the department has been able to make awards using Tradewinds in less than a week. OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google are all listed as participants.
OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google declined to comment for this story.
Though the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace has been around since late 2022, the Trump administration has been far more vocal than its predecessors about the military buying and operationalizing AI. It also hopes to have more money than ever to throw around: As part of its 2027 budget request to Congress, the White House asked for $1.5 trillion for the Department of Defense, citing “historic investments” in AI as a priority.
This year, the military is seeking video pitches for AI tech that can help “enhance force lethality” and those that can “unleash” AI-enabled agents that can assist in the joint targeting process, including so-called kill chain execution.
No longer as relevant? Pitches for products that promote “a culture of responsible AI” and provide guardrails for AI development and use—requests made during the final Tradewinds submissions cycle under the Biden administration. A DOD official says that the 2026 topics were selected to align with a January 2026 AI strategy memo.
“There has never been a better time to build for the Army,” wrote then-sitting US Army secretary Daniel Driscoll as part of a pitch for more defense tech startups included in Y Combinator’s Fall 2026 wishlist of companies to fund. (Driscoll has since resigned from his position and returned to the private sector. He did not respond to a request for comment.)
Opaque Transactions
Acceptance onto the Tradewinds marketplace—and the special “post-competitive” status that comes with it—lets government buyers more easily cut deals using special types of contracts such as “other transaction” agreements, or OTs, which aren’t subject to certain federal acquisition requirements. By law, the Pentagon can spend up to $500 million dollars on a single OT without having to notify Congress.
Procurement experts say that OTs are considered fast and flexible, which can be appealing to startups that don’t want to gamble on whether a months-long procurement process will result in a contract. However, not all agencies publicly report their OT spending, and even when they do, they’re difficult to find on government-run sites that track federal spending, like USASpending.gov and SAM.gov.