A new report from the Government Accountability Office arrives at a moment when federal AI spending is accelerating faster than the institutional frameworks meant to govern it. Released April 13, 2026, GAO-26-107859 examines how four major agencies—the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the General Services Administration, and the Department of Veterans Affairs—have been acquiring AI capabilities, and finds a consistent pattern: agencies are learning hard lessons in isolation, then failing to share what they’ve learned.