Shares of BigBear.ai surged Wednesday after the company said it received a contract from the Department of Defense's chief digital and artificial intelligence office to develop its automated learning and forecasting machine, called Virtual Anticipation Network.

The stock closed up 44.8% at $7.11 on Wednesday, which would be the highest close since May 23, 2022, when it closed at $10.12. Shares are up almost 60% year to date. And the shares jumped another 20% in overnight trading.

The AI-decision intelligence solutions company for defense and national security said the contract would help the U.S. government to leverage custom AI models to better assess news media originating in countries that could be potential foreign adversaries.

The company didn't disclose financial details of the contract.

Overall, BigBear.ai's Virtual Anticipation Network prototype provides "what-if" impact analysis to help with decision making. The contract award marks a successful transition from a research prototype to an operational prototype, the company added.

"We are arming our warfighters with sophisticated intelligence capabilities to leverage foreign insights critical to the safety of our nation and those protecting it," said Ryan Legge, president of national security at BigBear.ai.