WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has a new top technology officer, as today the Senate voted to confirm Emil Michael, a former Uber executive, as undersecretary of defense for research and engineering.
Michael, confirmed in a 54-43 vote, was nominated in December for the role. He now takes over as the department’s point person on advancing, prototyping and developing new technologies.
At his March 27 hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Michael said that the protection of American intellectual property is “one of the most important things” he intends to work on, adding that Chinese cyber espionage efforts like Salt Typhoon allow Beijing to “catch up” to US innovation “without 80 percent of the cost.”
In written testimony at the time, Michael also indicated he would look to review the structure of the R&E office, while pushing to shift a culture he described as “overly risk adverse.”
“It is critical that the Department innovates more quickly and with more efficiency. If confirmed, I would look for opportunities to implement, as appropriate, best practices that I’ve used in the private sector to drive innovation at speed and with efficiency throughout the organization,” he wrote.
He also wrote that “artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, quantum computing, directed energy, and hypersonic capabilities” would be priorities, though noted that once he has access to classified documents he expects to base his priorities on what adversaries are doing, in order to counter those actions.
During his time with Uber, Michael led the ride-share company’s expansion into Russia and China, negotiating co-investment deals worth billions, according to accounts he’s provided publicly. He was also linked to controversies while at Uber, including a suggestion in 2014 that the company was digging up dirt on reporters critical of the firm, according to a Buzzfeed report. (Michael apologized at the time.)
However, Michael has some knowledge of the department: In 2014 Michael was appointed by then-President Barack Obama to the Pentagon’s Defense Business Board, and according to his website, he also is an investor in or advisor to Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Theresa Hitchens contributed to this report.