US Defense Department Pours $30 Million Into AI-Powered Lie Detector

The US Department of Defense has requested a budget of $30.3 million over the next five years to develop 'Polygraph Plus', a lie detector powered by AI (artificial intelligence). The details were reported by MIT Technology Review, which reviewed the Pentagon's budget request documents. The program, also known as 'Polygraph Next', focuses on AI and machine learning-based scoring algorithms, as well as 'standoff sensing' technology that measures physiological signals without attaching any devices to the body. According to the budget documents, the new technology is expected to be used for vetting new personnel and 'insider threat detection'.

The Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been expanding polygraph testing. According to the New York Times, roughly 50 officers from the Joint Staff were subjected to polygraph tests after reports in September 2026 of shortages in US weapons stockpiles during the war with Iran. However, the Polygraph Plus budget has not yet been approved by Congress.

Professor Kiri Kotooglou of Northumbria Law School in the UK, who has studied the use of polygraphs in the justice system, criticized the project as "a misguided attempt to categorize something complex," pointing to the technology's limitations. Meanwhile, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) selected two companies in 2023 through an open solicitation process seeking firms with deception-detection products.