ICE wants more blockchain analytics tech; Army recruits officers from Meta, OpenAI and Palantir for new detachment

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is doubling down on its investment in blockchain intelligence technology, along with other investigative platforms. According to a notice of intent on a government procurement website, the Department of Homeland Security component aims to buy more technology from TRM Labs, which focuses on crypto risk management but also offers a bevy of forensics services for government clients. ICE this week also posted an intent to sole source similar technology from Chainalysis, which comes amid a series of planned purchases for other digital forensics tools. Both Chainalysis and TRM Labs have myriad contracts with federal agencies, including the FBI, the State Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Internal Revenue Service. In posting its intent to single source both TRM and Chainalysis technology, ICE is indicating there is no other provider that could reasonably provide the same services. Executives from high-tech firms Meta, OpenAI and Palantir are joining the Army Reserve at the rank of lieutenant colonel to serve in Detachment 201, a new “Executive Innovation Corps,” the service announced Friday. The move is the latest push by the department to tap into capabilities and know-how from Silicon Valley and the commercial sector. The new corps “brings top tech talent into the Army Reserve to bridge the commercial-military tech gap” and is “designed to fuse cutting-edge tech expertise with military innovation,” the Army stated in a press release. On Friday, the service is set to swear-in Meta’s chief technology officer Andrew Bosworth, OpenAI’s chief product officer Kevin Weil, Palantir’s CTO Shyam Sankar and Bob McGrew, an advisor at Thinking Machines Lab who was previously OpenAI’s chief research officer. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.