United StatesPublic sector2026

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Geospatial Damage Assessments from aerial imagery

FEMA retired its AI system for assessing disaster damage

StoppedRegulator, audit or court

Problem

FEMA needed to assess structural damage after natural disasters and share useful information with recovery partners.

Approach

Its Geospatial Damage Assessments system used machine learning and computer vision to analyze aerial imagery. Officials told GAO that missing data rights prevented them from sharing model outputs with federal and state partners. DHS reported in February 2026 that FEMA had retired the system.

Results

No published figures

Takeaway

Data rights constrained the sharing of assessment outputs. GAO did not establish that this constraint caused retirement or disclose when operational use began.

Sources

Artificial Intelligence Acquisitions: Agencies Should Collect and Apply Lessons Learned to Improve Future Procurements
U.S. Government Accountability Office13 Apr 2026Regulator, audit or court document

Source summaries

[1]U.S. Government Accountability Office13 Apr 2026

GAO described FEMA's aerial-image damage assessment system and reported its retirement. It separately documented officials' concerns about contractual data rights that prevented sharing model outputs with partners.

Full details are in the original sources.

Added 1 Nov 2026 · Updated 1 Nov 2026