# Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office **Aliases:** CDAO **Entity class:** Department of Defense principal digital, data, analytics, and AI office ## Definition The **Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO)** is the Department of Defense organization responsible for accelerating adoption of data, analytics, and artificial intelligence and for integrating major digital initiatives across the Department. ## Relationships - **leads:** [[wiki/Open DAGIR|Open DAGIR]]. - **co-governs:** [[wiki/War Data Platform|War Data Platform]] and the transformation of [[wiki/Advana|Advana]]. - **supports:** [[wiki/CJADC2|CJADC2]] and combatant-command mission applications. - **belongs to:** [[wiki/United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]]. ## Sources / Provenance - [CDAO — official site](https://www.ai.mil/) - [DoD — Open DAGIR announcement](https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3791829/cdao-announces-new-approach-to-scaling-data-analytics-and-ai-capabilities/) ## Austin defense-technology role Defense Department office announced agreements with frontier AI developers in July 2025. The article identifies national-security agentic workflows as the contractual mission context. Orbital networks depend on physical production, ground equipment, operations, and mission demand. The article connects Bastrop terminal manufacturing with Starlink communications and separately cites NRO reconnaissance-contract reporting. Frontier AI agreements add a different public acquisition route. Regional proximity establishes a capability geography while company-specific evidence establishes a contract or product relationship. ### Regional relationships - **technical or institutional context:** [[wiki/Frontier AI National-Security Contract|Frontier AI National-Security Contract]]. - **technical or institutional context:** [[wiki/Agentic National-Security Workflow|Agentic National-Security Workflow]]. - **regional master router:** [[wiki/Austin Defense Technology|Austin Defense Technology]]. - **source article:** [[articles/How Austin Became a Different Kind of Defense Tech Epicenter|How Austin Became a Different Kind of Defense Tech Epicenter]]. - **civilian supplier and participation economy:** [[collections/The Civilian Intelligence Marketplace|The Civilian Intelligence Marketplace]]. - **intelligence architecture:** [[collections/Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment|Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment]]. ### Austin sources - [[articles/How Austin Became a Different Kind of Defense Tech Epicenter#Musk's Texas and the Constellation Factory|Austin defense-tech article — Musk's Texas and the Constellation Factory]] — October 2026 revision; source for this entry’s regional role. - [DefenseScoop, Pentagon AI Contracts: xAI, Google, OpenAI, Anthropic](https://defensescoop.com/2025/07/14/pentagon-ai-contracts-musk-xai-google-openai-anthropic-cdao/) ## Connected Austin capabilities [[wiki/xAI|xAI]], [[wiki/Frontier AI National-Security Contract|Frontier AI National-Security Contract]], [[wiki/Agentic National-Security Workflow|Agentic National-Security Workflow]]. These entries identify associated implementations, people, methods, and institutional contexts in [[articles/How Austin Became a Different Kind of Defense Tech Epicenter|How Austin Became a Different Kind of Defense Tech Epicenter]]. [[wiki/Austin Defense Technology|Austin Defense Technology]] supplies their regional arrangement; [[collections/The Civilian Intelligence Marketplace|The Civilian Intelligence Marketplace]] supplies the wider supplier and participation economy.