signalMIT Technology Review AI2026-09-26
The Pentagon wants $30 million to build an AI-powered lie detector
The Pentagon requests $30.3 million over five years for Polygraph+, an AI and machine learning based program to modernize lie detection, using standoff sensing to read physiological data without attached devices. The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency would run the program for vetting and insider threat detection. Experts like Kyri Kotsoglou question its value, and historical reviews have found weak evidence for polygraph reliability.
- for who
- Pentagon officials and lie detection technology developers
- what changes
- The proposal signals a shift toward AI-based and remote sensing methods in federal lie detection, despite past failures
key points
- Pentagon requests $30.3 million for AI and machine learning lie detection
- Program uses standoff sensing for physiological readings without contact
- Presage Technologies and Altec Research built prototypes for DIU
#ai lie detection#military applications#government budget
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