=USS Cole Victims Awarded Nearly $2 Billion in Default Judgment==

Terrorist bombing killed 17 US Navy sailors and injured dozens

FISA prerequisites met to waive Iran’s sovereign immunity

Injured US Navy sailors and family members of those killed won a nearly $2 billion default judgment against the Islamic Republic of Iran for the October 2000 terrorist bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen.

The sailors and family members brought claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress and sought compensation for pain and suffering under 1605A of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Because the Islamic Republic of Iran didn’t enter an appearance, the plaintiffs’ motion for default judgment was granted, said Judge Rudolph Contreras of the US District Court for the District of Columbia Monday.

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/uss-cole-victims-awarded-nearly-2-billion-in-default-judgment

White House says agencies hired 200 AI experts so far through governmentwide ‘talent surge’

The White House, in an update on progress made under President Joe Biden’s AI executive order, said agencies have made over 200 hires to date through its AI “talent surge.”

The administration expects to hire at least 500 AI experts into government by the end of fiscal 2025.

The White House says an AI cohort of the General Services Administration’s Presidential Innovation Fellows program and the Department of Homeland Security’s AI Corps contributed to that governmentwide hiring.

DHS announced last Friday that it has onboarded its first cohort of 15 AI experts from the private and public sectors to serve in its AI Corps.

Among their duties, AI Corps members are working with DHS’ Supply Chain Resilience Center to determine how AI could be used to forecast the impacts of critical supply chain disruptions to public safety and security.

The DHS AI Corps is looking at how generative AI could help the department’s Homeland Security Investigations department combat fentanyl, human trafficking, child exploitation, and other criminal networks.

“The AI Corps is one of the most significant AI-talent recruitment efforts of any federal civilian agency, aiming to hire 50 AI experts to enhance service delivery and impact the homeland security mission while safeguarding privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties,” DHS wrote in its press release.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy earlier this month outlined plans to spend $100 million to train new AI experts and bring a steady pipeline of them into government service.

The Defense Department, for example, is working with the Office of Management and Budget and OSTP to launch its Trusted Advisors Pilot — a pool of STEM and AI experts that agencies can tap into to support implementation of the Biden’s AI executive order and related administration priorities.

https://federalnewsnetwork.com/artificial-intelligence/2024/07/white-house-says-agencies-hired-200-ai-experts-so-far-through-governmentwide-talent-surge/