AI system
- System
-
ALICE (Analisador de Licitações, Contratos e Editais), CGU automated audit-trail and AI alert tool
- Model
-
Not assessed
- Release
-
Not assessed
- Application developer
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Controladoria-Geral da União (CGU), in-house (launched 2015 per the release) - Role
-
Not assessed
- Configuration
-
Not assessed
- Inputs and outputs
-
Not assessed
- Autonomy
-
Not assessed
- Workflow
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ALICE alerts on price surveys inconsistent with prices practiced in comparable purchases in the same region. CGU preventive audits completed before the auction, with recommendations to re-estimate prices. Hospital managers suspending and re-running the price estimate.
- Human oversight
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Not assessed
- Relation to AI
-
The CGU states the audits were done “com apoio da ferramenta automatizada ALICE”. At INCA, it says, the overpricing risk was identified “com a ajuda do ALICE”. For the Ipanema tender, suspension followed a CGU recommendation after analysis of the price survey. ALICE's documented role is alerting and supporting the audit; auditors and managers decided. Developer and deployer are the same public body. The CGU page is on record as an archived copy, because the live page was restricted during Brazil's 2026 electoral period.
- AI contribution
-
The CGU states the audits were done “com apoio da ferramenta automatizada ALICE”. At INCA, it says, the overpricing risk was identified “com a ajuda do ALICE”. For the Ipanema tender, suspension followed a CGU recommendation after analysis of the price survey. ALICE's documented role is alerting and supporting the audit; auditors and managers decided. Developer and deployer are the same public body. The CGU page is on record as an archived copy, because the live page was restricted during Brazil's 2026 electoral period.
Benefits
- Outcome identifiers
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Not assessed
- Benefit
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prevented at least R$8.33 million of overpriced purchases
- Category
-
Reduced Risk
- Status
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Not assessed
- Beneficiary groups
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People. Organizations. Society.
- Beneficiaries
-
Not assessed
- Reach
-
Not assessed
- Distribution and access
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Not assessed
- Duration
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Not assessed
- Expected?
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Yes
- Costs and harms
-
Not assessed
Measurement
- Studies
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Not assessed
- Study design
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Not assessed
- Measurement
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Not assessed
- Setting and sample
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Not assessed
- Measures
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prevented at least R$8.33 million of overpriced purchases
- Comparison
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the original estimated value of Pregão 15/2021, which reused the price survey of Pregão 05/2021
- Results
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Reference: valor estimado de R$ 34 mi. Result: reduziu o valor total do pregão em R$ 2.381.663,00; all items bought for R$ 14.315.793,42 on 21 July 2021.
- Additional value from AI
-
Not assessed
- Limitations
-
Not assessed
- Denominators
-
Not assessed
- Materials for replication
-
Not assessed
Money
- Kind of value
-
overpriced hospital purchases avoided across five preventive audits
- Amount
-
R$ 8,33 milhões
- Currency and prices
-
Not assessed
- Period and unit
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Not assessed
- Realization
-
Not assessed
- Recipients and payers
-
the federal government (hospitals and institutes in Rio de Janeiro)
- Gross or net
-
Not assessed
- Included costs
-
Not assessed
- Comparison
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Not assessed
- Method
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Not assessed
- Return and payback
-
Not assessed
People and places
- Participants
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Developer:
Controladoria-Geral da União (CGU), in-house (launched 2015 per the release). Operator: Controladoria-Geral da União (CGU). - Jurisdictions
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Benefit: Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. Developer: Brazil. Operator: Brazil. - Ownership and control
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Not assessed
- Dependencies
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Not assessed
- Cross-border connections
-
Not assessed
- Geopolitical implications
-
Not assessed
Follow-up
- Conditions for replication
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Tender notices published on the federal purchasing portal where ALICE reads them daily. Time between publication and auction sufficient for audit and correction. Availability of market price references.
- Replication attempts
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2 follow-up entries. Benefit recurred: 2.
- Later findings
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30 December 2024. By the end of 2024 the CGU reported 126 bodies registered to receive ALICE alerts, including 94 state, district and municipal units, and R$257.25 million saved in concluded 2024 audits.
- Availability
-
Not assessed
- Institutional decision
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Not assessed
- Grounds
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Not assessed
- Action and result
-
Not assessed
- Success criterion
-
Not assessed
Evidence
- Source numbers
-
AIBD-0082-source-0001–0004
- Citations
-
Numbered references below.
- Language
-
Not assessed
- Source relationships
-
Developer
- Original evidence
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Not assessed
- Access and versions
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Not assessed
- Supported findings
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Not assessed
- Evidence links
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Not assessed
- Evidence strength
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Not assessed
- Missing evidence
-
Not assessed
Grades
- Assessed benefits
-
People. Organizations. Society.
- Depth
-
People: Not assessed. Organizations: 2. Society: 1.
- Reasons
-
People: No identifiable individual beneficiary; patients benefit only indirectly through preserved hospital budgets. Organizations: Material to the hospitals and the federal budget: R$2,381,663.00 cut from one auction and about R$5.95 million from another. R$8.33 million avoided across the five audits per the CGU. Society: Small at national scale relative to federal purchasing of about R$119 billion a year.
- Observed or intended
-
Not assessed
- Rubric
-
Not assessed
- Assessor and date
-
Not assessed
- Alternative assessments
-
Not assessed
- Fill
-
The makers' claim
Entry details
- Kind
-
Not assessed
- Related entries
-
Dutch Tax Authority's fraud-risk algorithm, a government audit-targeting tool like ALICE, wrongly accused thousands of families of fraud and damaged the authority itself.
- Field
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Public administration: government audit and procurement control. Federal internal control of health-sector purchasing.
- Purpose
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Preventive audit of federal procurement notices using automated risk alerts to stop overpriced purchases before award
- Dates
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Date basis unassessed: 2021 (precision unassessed). Updated: 21 October 2026.
- Stage
-
Not assessed
- Version
-
SHA-256: 42ab95f8d05e…
References
- Other identifiers
-
AI Incident Database: 101.
- Category mappings
-
Not assessed
- Brief
-
Not assessed
- Revisions
-
9 revisions. Latest: 21 October 2026.
Sources
-
Report Developer
Oliveira, T. C., Rocha, A. L. M. & Rezende, M. S. (2022). Alice: Desafios, resultados e perspectivas da ferramenta de auditoria contínua de compras públicas governamentais com uso de inteligência artificial. Revista da CGU 14(26), jul-dez/2022, published 20 Dec 2022; a practitioner report (relato) in the CGU's own journal.
Já são mais de R$ 9,7 bilhões em compras suspensas a partir de suas indicações, apenas pela CGU
-
Press release Developer
Controladoria-Geral da União (2023). CGU atua em editais de licitação em hospitais federais no Rio de Janeiro e evita desperdício de cerca de R$ 8,33 mi. gov.br/cgu, 4 Oct 2023.
por recomendação da CGU, o certame foi suspenso e uma nova estimativa de preços foi realizada. A nova análise reduziu o valor total do pregão em R$ 2.381.663,00.
a partir de 16.743 compras analisadas no âmbito nacional, o ALICE emitiu alertas que resultaram na suspensão de 59 compras no valor aproximado de R$ 3.1 bilhões
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Press release Developer
Controladoria-Geral da União (2024). Órgãos federais economizaram, em 2024, 257 milhões de reais com apoio do Robô ALICE, da Controladoria-Geral da União. gov.br/cgu, 30 Dec 2024.