Welcome back to Daily Zaps, your regularly-scheduled dose of AI news ⚡️ 

Here’s what we got for ya today:

• ✨ Google Gemini approved for US government use

• ♽ OpenAI leadership shuffle

• 🚕 Waymo eyes DC as next robotaxi site

• ⚖️ NIST releases final guidance on securing AI systems

Let’s get right into it!

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GOVERNMENT

Google Gemini approved for US government use

Google’s Gemini AI assistant, integrated into Workspace apps like Docs, Gmail, Sheets, and more, has achieved FedRAMP High authorization—making it the first generative AI productivity suite cleared for use under the government’s highest cloud security standards.

Government agencies can use Gemini to automate tasks, improve collaboration, enhance decision-making, and deliver faster, more personalized citizen services—all while maintaining rigorous security, privacy, and ethical standards. Although FedRAMP High authorization supports handling sensitive but unclassified information, it does not authorize use for classified or secret-level work; such use would require additional clearances, such as DISA IL5 or IL6 for Department of Defense environments.

STARTUPS

OpenAI leadership shuffle

OpenAI has announced major leadership changes, expanding COO Brad Lightcap’s role to oversee daily operations, international growth, and key partnerships with companies like Microsoft and Apple, while CEO Sam Altman shifts focus to the company's research and product development. Mark Chen has been promoted to chief research officer, and Julia Villagra is now chief people officer.

These changes follow the departures of key executives, including former CTO Mira Murati and chief research officer Bob McGrew, and signal an internal restructuring as the company transitions from a non-profit to a for-profit model. OpenAI emphasized its continued commitment to frontier AI research and noted that its products now serve hundreds of millions of users.

STARTUPS

Waymo eyes DC as next robotaxi site

Waymo has announced plans to launch its autonomous ridehailing service, Waymo One, in Washington, DC by 2026, pending changes to current laws that prohibit fully driverless vehicles. Presently, DC regulations require a human safety driver in autonomous vehicles, but tech advocates are urging lawmakers to ease these restrictions. Waymo has been testing manually driven vehicles in neighborhoods like Dupont Circle, Foggy Bottom, and Penn Quarter, though it hasn’t disclosed how many vehicles it will deploy or the full scope of its service area.

Operating in DC poses challenges due to severe traffic congestion, limited federal oversight on AVs, and a fragmented regulatory environment. Waymo already runs driverless services in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, and has plans to expand into several other cities, including Austin, Atlanta, Silicon Valley, and Miami. In response to Waymo's announcement, DC’s Department of Transportation confirmed it is developing a permitting framework for safe AV testing while emphasizing a commitment to safety and regulatory compliance.

GOVERNMENT

NIST releases final guidance on securing AI systems

In January 2024, NIST released voluntary guidelines to help identify and mitigate attacks on artificial intelligence (AI) systems, particularly targeting those involved in the design, development, deployment, evaluation, and governance of AI. These guidelines, now finalized as Adversarial Machine Learning: A Taxonomy and Terminology of Attacks and Mitigations (NIST AI.100-2e2025), were developed with input from industry and academia.

Key updates include a restructured section on generative AI (GenAI) attacks and mitigation methods, reflecting the latest technological developments and business applications, as well as a new index of attacks and mitigations designed to improve usability and foster clearer communication among stakeholders.

[Download 127 page PDF report here]