“The number of detections are way up [and] the number of models that we have are way up, [but] with the same level of compute that you had in 2017,” said Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth. “It starts to slow down. We are already seeing evidence of that.”
The US has a narrow edge in its talent pool, its hardware and its algorithms, but China is ahead in accumulating data, deploying applications, and integrating different functions.
From emerging data networks to missile tracking and cyber resilience, Breaking Defense’s latest eBook brings together essential reporting on the evolving role of satellites in national security.
Robert Work, who pushed hard for AI under Obama, calls for major reforms to catch up with China and Russia. His model? Adm. Rickover's creation of the nuclear Navy in the 1950s.
"The Commission is not glorifying the prospect of AI-enabled warfare, [but] adopting AI for defense and security purposes is an urgent national imperative."
"They’re willing to say, 'I’m willing to sacrifice the lives of American servicemen and women, I'm willing to take more civilian casualties ... on the off chance that sometime in the future this weapon will exist."
The experimental turret will use the technology — and the safeguards — from the Army’s ATLAS project, originally misrepresented in the media as building "killer robots."
The challenge for Western democratic institutions is not a lack of capability — it is a structural one.
The Pentagon insists it doesn't want them. But could a global ban really rein in Russia or China?
Warships sink. Bases burn. F-35s die on the runway. Can $24 billion a year -- 3.3 % of the Pentagon budget -- fix the problem?
Why did an obscure Army program inspire headlines about "killer robots"?
The move could save more than $30 billion over 25 years to invest in high-tech weapons -- but Congress is sure to explode in outrage.
“The SOF guys are less risk averse than conventional ground forces, so they’re more apt to push the limit,” said Bob Work, father of the AI-driven Third Offset Strategy. “Their commanders also have embraced AI and autonomous ops.... so I think all the conditions are set for SOF to lead the way in the more direct combat applications of AI and autonomy.”
"I think Russia and China are in a better position than we are at the moment on Artificial Intelligence," Sen. Sen. James Inhofe said. I asked if he would press hard for more money. Answer: "To me, there are other things that need to be done first."
“We have not achieved $2.3 billion in budget growth,” Pentagon EW acquisitions director Bill Conley told me. "We are continuing to add investment (and) we are addressing the most pressing gaps."
Loaded with jet fuel, the drones will vastly extend the ranges of carrier-based aircraft operating in the expanses of the western Pacific. That lets the Navy strike deeper into China's layered defenses while keeping the big decks out of range of most of China's anti-ship missiles.