Definition
A US government national-security procurement tool that lets agencies formally flag a vendor as a 'supply chain risk,' effectively barring them from federal contracts. A federal court recently ruled this tool was used unlawfully against a major AI lab over its own safety practices, marking the first legal test of the mechanism in this context.
Why it matters
This shows that government procurement blacklisting powers can now be pointed at AI vendors' internal safety and security practices, creating a new and unpredictable regulatory risk channel that boards of AI suppliers need to track.