What is America.gov?
America.gov is a free AI chatbot, launched September 29, 2026, that the White House intends to be the public’s single starting point for federal services. No account is needed to ask questions in plain language, which the chatbot answers by drawing on information from about 29,000 federal websites.
Built by the General Services Administration (GSA) and the White House’s National Design Studio, the chatbot is powered by Google’s Gemini and xAI’s Grok. The site’s privacy notice says the AI providers do not keep prompts or responses, that responses may be cached for up to two hours, and that the site uses no tracking technologies or precise location data.
Today, America.gov answers questions and points users to agency sites. The features that will matter most to federal contractors have not launched yet:
| When | What | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Sept. 29, 2026 | Executive order signed; chatbot launches, answering questions and pointing users to agency sites | Live |
| December 2026 | Passport applications through America.gov | Planned |
| About Dec. 28, 2026 | Office of Management and Budget (OMB) implementing guidance due 90 days after the executive order. Explains how each agency will integrate covered services into America.gov. | Due |
| Early 2027 | Phase 2: apply for, enroll in and track benefits (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid), upload documents and schedule appointments | Planned |
Requirements and Covered Services Under the Executive Order
Every agency must identify its “covered services” and integrate them with America.gov, using Login.gov for sign-in. A covered service is a public-facing federal service that serves more than 100,000 users in a 12-month period and can be accessed or applied for online. IRS tax filing and all services of the Department of War and the Intelligence Community are excluded, and the OMB Director can add or exclude services by memorandum.
The order itself sets no agency deadline. OMB has 90 days from September 29 (about December 28, 2026) to issue implementing guidance, and agency deadlines are expected to come from that guidance. Some press coverage treats the 90 days as an agency deadline, but the text of the executive order does not support that reading. Implementation is also subject to appropriations, so the pace of agency integration work may depend on funding from Congress as much as on the deadlines in OMB’s guidance.
America.gov differs from earlier platforms. USA.gov organizes links, and Login.gov verifies who you are. America.gov adds an AI model that draws on content from many agencies and answers questions directly, shifting the work of finding the right agency and correct forms from individual users to government systems. For covered services, the most likely forms of integration will be:
- Content. Material the model can draw on accurately.
- A hand-off. An interface the model can route the user to.
- A transaction. A task the user completes through America.gov, signing in with Login.gov while the agency’s own systems process the request (not yet available).
The order also leaves agencies in control of their records and their authority to decide cases. It creates no centralized federal records system, requires data minimization and auditable authorization, and preserves phone, mail and in-person service.
What Might Agencies Need From Contractors?
Agencies will need help getting their systems ready for America.gov, and they will likely award that work under their own contracts rather than through the team that runs America.gov. We expect demand in six areas:
| Area | Work | Likely Providers |
|---|---|---|
| Content and API normalization | Updating legacy agency sites and case systems so the model can draw on clean, accurate content; later, connecting to transaction APIs the model can call | Modernization integrators, API-management vendors, content-operations firms |
| Identity | Supporting Phase 2, which is expected to use Login.gov identity verification shared across the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) | Identity integrators, fraud-analytics vendors, help-desk providers |
| Cross-agency data flows | Drafting the data-sharing agreements needed to track benefits across agencies, and building secure systems to carry them out | Data-engineering and privacy-engineering firms |
| Accessibility and language access | Testing and fixing services to meet Section 508 and limited-English-proficiency requirements | Accessibility testers, translation and localization vendors |
| Records and logs | Building logging that retains prompts, responses and hand-offs, or deliberately does not, as federal records rules require | Records-management and e-discovery vendors |
| Security and model assurance | Penetration testing, red-teaming against prompt injection, accuracy evaluation and continuous monitoring | Cybersecurity firms, AI-evaluation companies, independent assessors |
The White House has not disclosed how America.gov itself was procured, nor has GSA said whether the platform uses OneGov pricing. Integration work will likely flow through existing vehicles such as GSA Schedules, governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWACs) and agency indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts, plus new task orders once OMB issues its guidance.
Action Items for Federal Government Contractors
You don’t need to predict which companies will win America.gov-related work, but you should know where your contracts and business are exposed before OMB issues its guidance in December.
Integrators. Identify your agency customers’ public-facing services with more than 100,000 users a year, excluding IRS tax filing and Department of War and Intelligence Community services. Begin capture conversations now, as these programs are most likely to need America.gov work.
The second and third posts in this series cover the legal obligations that will reach contractors and what the choice of Gemini and Grok means for AI vendors, with steps for subcontractors, cloud providers and AI vendors.
General Legal’s government contracts team can review your America.gov positioning, your OneGov and Schedule terms, and your AI contract risk before OMB issues its guidance. If you’d like help identifying your exposures, reach out to General Legal.
Sources
- The White House, “Streamlining Access to Government Services Through America.gov,” Executive Order (Sept. 29, 2026)
- GSA, “GSA Joins the White House’s National Design Studio in Unveiling America.gov” (Sept. 29, 2026)
This post reflects public information as of October 1, 2026, and a general legal framework. It is not legal advice for any specific company’s situation.
- America.gov is a free AI chatbot launched September 29, 2026, as a single federal services entry point, powered by Google's Gemini and xAI's Grok with no disclosed contract details.
- A same-day executive order requires agencies to integrate any public-facing service serving over 100,000 users annually, with OMB implementation guidance due by December 28, 2026.
- Most integration work—API normalization, identity proofing via Login.gov, cross-agency data sharing, accessibility, records management and security—will flow through agency contracts, not the chatbot team.
- Legal obligations including Privacy Act notices, computer matching agreements, privacy impact assessments, FedRAMP Certification and OMB's AI memos (M-25-21 and M-25-22) land on agencies but pass to contractors through clauses and SOWs.
- Anthropic remains absent despite a federal court striking down the President's February 2026 ban; OpenAI also sits out despite a current OneGov deal, four days after disclosing testing incidents involving agency data.
- Contractors should negotiate data rights in prompts and outputs, map AI flow-down clauses against commercial license terms, price compliance deliverables and watch OMB guidance for procurement triggers.
| What launched | Free AI chatbot on America.gov answers questions from 29,000 federal sites; built by GSA and the White House National Design Studio using Gemini and Grok. |
|---|---|
| Integration mandate | Executive order requires agencies to wire in any online public service above 100,000 users per year, excluding IRS tax filing and Department of War and Intelligence Community services. |
| Where the contract work sits | Six contract areas: content and API normalization, Login.gov identity integration, cross-agency data flows, accessibility and translation, records management and AI security and evaluation. |
| Compliance and legal risk | Privacy Act, computer matching, PIAs, FedRAMP Certification, OMB AI memos, records retention, data rights and accuracy obligations all flow to contractors through clauses and SOWs. |
| Model choice and vendor landscape | Gemini and Grok power the platform; Anthropic is absent post-litigation, OpenAI also left out despite active OneGov pricing; all four vendors signed a voluntary AI commitment at the White House the day of launch. |
| Next steps and guidance | OMB must issue implementing guidance by December 28, 2026, setting agency integration deadlines and clarifying covered services; OneGov AI deals renew or expire between October 2026 and March 2027. |
What can America.gov do today, and what is coming?
Today, the America.gov chatbot answers questions and points users to agency sites. Passport applications are slated for December 2026, and applying for, enrolling in and tracking benefits are planned for early 2027.
Which services must agencies integrate with America.gov?
Public-facing federal services that serve more than 100,000 users in a 12-month period and can be accessed or applied for online. IRS tax filing and all Department of War and Intelligence Community services are excluded, and the OMB Director can add or exclude services by memorandum.
When will agency deadlines be set?
OMB must issue implementing guidance within 90 days of September 29, 2026, or about December 28, 2026. Agency deadlines are expected to come from that guidance, not from the order itself.
What legal obligations pass from agencies to contractors on America.gov work?
Privacy Act clauses, computer matching agreements if comparing records across agencies, privacy impact assessments, FedRAMP Certification requirements, OMB AI memo safeguards (M-25-21 and M-25-22), federal records retention, negotiated data rights in prompts and outputs, and any accuracy service levels tied to answer quality.
Who will award the contract work?
Mostly individual agencies, under their own contracts. We expect most work to run through existing vehicles, such as GSA Schedules, GWACs and agency IDIQs, plus new task orders once OMB issues its guidance.
- America.gov Integration: Legal Obligations for ContractorsAmerica.gov, the AI chatbot the White House launched on September 29, 2026, is the visible layer of an executive order requiring agencies to integrate their “covered services” with the platform. A covered service is a public-facing federal service that serves more than 100,000 users in a 12-month period and can be accessed or applied for online. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) must issue implementing guidance by about December 28, 2026, and Phase 2, which adds applying for, enrolling in and tracking benefits, is planned for early 2027. This post, the second of three, covers the legal obligations that integration work will bring to contractors.
- Gemini and Grok Power America.gov: Model Choice Impact on AI VendorsAmerica.gov, the free AI chatbot the White House launched on September 29, 2026, is powered by Google’s Gemini and xAI’s Grok. The General Services Administration (GSA) and the White House’s National Design Studio built it as the public’s single starting point for federal services. This post, the last in a three-part series, looks at the models chosen and its implications for other AI vendors.
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