Enabled Intelligence books $708M data labeling contract
Gettyimages.com / Kanawat TH
By
Ross Wilkers
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency chooses this five-year-old company for "Sequoia," a broad effort to incorporate commercial artificial intelligence and machine learning tools into GEOINT missions.
Enabled Intelligence, an AI startup that focuses on computer vision algorithms and task automation, has booked a potential $708.3 million contract for data labeling services across the U.S. government.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency set up the seven-year “Sequoia” program as a mechanism for agencies to acquire artificial intelligence and machine learning tools in support of broader GEOINT efforts.
NGA awarded the contract in September, but Enabled Intelligence confirmed its capture of Sequoia on Tuesday after the government resumed full operations. Sequoia's ordering duration covers an initial three-year base period followed by a single four-year option period.
Sequoia supports NGA’s Maven program for applying AI capabilities to sensors and platforms used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. The agency primarily looks to accomplish this through computer vision and algorithms to detect and track objects, plus detect patterns.
NGA unveiled the final solicitation for Sequoia in September 2024, where the agency also highlighted natural language processing and analytic models as priority areas. Sequoia is part of NGA’s larger push to automate certain business processes for GEOINT missions and integrate commercial capabilities directly into workflows for operators.
"Our open architecture approach, combined with our rigorously trained and skilled workforce, ensures that NGA and the broader DOD and intelligence community have access to the precise, unbiased data labeling necessary to deploy AI capabilities at the speed and scale - maintaining America’s strategic advantage,” Enabled Intelligence CEO Peter Kant said in a release.
Enabled Intelligence opened for business in 2020 to provide sensitive and classified data labeling services for government agencies, plus algorithm development support for missions involving AI and machine learning.
Enabled Intelligence’s industry partners for the Sequoia program include BAE Systems’ U.S. subsidiary, Vantor (formerly Maxar Intelligence) and Whiteboard Federal.