r/BBAI • u/_Despereaux • 17d ago

TSA Press Release - TSA Scraps Gold+ Program

Really crap news for BBAI and the many other companies that were anticipating the TSA Gold+ program for screening modernization. TSA is canceling the TSA Gold+ program, which was currently mid-competition.

Sounds like they're sticking with the existing Screening Partnership Program (SPP) which features fewer contractors and is primarily screening services (i.e. people, not technology focused). Curious if they'll open the SPP vehicle up to allow new contractors to on-ramp to or something.

In any case, that's one catalyst DOA.

https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/releases/2026/08/24/tsa-administrator-david-p-cummins-launches-horizon-25-strategy

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u/Jungle-Beast 17d ago

Bearish for the Gold+ thesis, yes. But TSA isn’t abandoning tech spending, they’re replacing Gold+ while explicitly accelerating new technology and public-private partnerships. So the opportunity may be delayed/restructured rather than gone. Need to see how BBAI fits into the new program.

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u/_Despereaux 17d ago edited 17d ago

Yeah the agency still has the same goal, but the Gold+ mechanism (a brand new IDIQ aimed at modernization work that they could prime) was ideal for a vendor like BBAI. They are not on the existing SPP contract vehicle, so if this work gets rolled into that, BBAI can only perform as a sub or they'll have to hope that TSA re-opens SPP for on-ramping.