July 2026 Summaries

Vals has launched Vals Public Sector, an AI evaluation initiative intended to help government agencies independently assess how AI models perform on high-stakes real-world tasks, comply with laws and policies, and present potential risks. The company argues that, despite growing public-sector AI adoption and investment, agencies need rigorous third-party benchmarks rather than vendor claims to guide procurement, policy, and deployment decisions. Built on Valkyrie, Vals’ open-source evaluation framework, the offering provides expert-developed benchmarks in areas including finance, law, education, software engineering, and public benefits, as well as frontier-risk measurement for sensitive applications. Vals says it will collaborate with AI labs, government domain experts, allies, and vendors, including in sensitive national-security environments, and has appointed former Pentagon and technology-sector AI leader Glenn Parham to lead the effort while opening a Washington, DC office.