Latest news with #BryceGoodman
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pentagon Signs Deal to "Deploy AI Agents for Military Use"
The Pentagon has signed a deal with AI company Scale AI, in an initiative it's calling "Thunderforge," to use AI agents for military planning and operations. The team-up, described as a "flagship program," is a notable development given how divisive the topic of the use of AI in warfare has proven — and how many of the tech's nagging shortcomings have yet to be meaningfully addressed. Yet the encroachment of AI tech within the military has been unmistakable. Both Google and OpenAI have walked back rules forbidding the use of their AI tech for weapons development and surveillance, showing that Silicon Valley is opening up to the idea of having its tools be used by the military. Just last month, a senior Pentagon official told Defense One that the US military was looking to move away from funding research on the topic of autonomous killer robots and investing in actual AI-powered weaponry instead. And it goes beyond the Pentagon. Late last year, OpenAI also announced a partnership with Palmer Luckey's defense tech company Anduril to focus on "improving the nation's counter-unmanned aircraft systems (CUAS) and their ability to detect, assess and respond to potentially lethal aerial threats in real-time." Basically, though, the pitch is a familiar one for the AI industry. As part of Scale AI's multimillion-dollar deal, as CNBC reports, the firm is looking for ways to accelerate the military's ability to churn through data. "Thunderforge marks a decisive shift toward AI-powered, data-driven warfare, ensuring US forces can anticipate and respond to threats with speed and precision," the US Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) wrote in a statement. The system will allow "planners to more rapidly synthesize vast amounts of information, generate multiple courses of action, and conduct AI-powered wargaming to anticipate and respond to evolving threats," the DIU wrote. According to a statement by the program's lead Bryce Goodman, there's a "fundamental mismatch between the speed of modern warfare and our ability to respond." "Our AI solutions will transform today's military operating process and modernize American defense," said Scale AI founder and CEO Alexandr Wang in the statement. Scale AI had already signed a contract with the Department of Defense's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office last year to test and evaluate large language models. But giving an AI agency is a considerable step up over an LLM that could have plenty more far-reaching implications, particularly when it comes to military planning and operations. Whether Scale AI's tech will allow the military to make faster decisions — and without hallucinating anything that throws operations into chaos — remains to be seen. One ominous data point: when Stanford researchers tested how OpenAI's GPT-4 LLM responded when told it was representing a country inside of a wargame simulation, it proved to be particularly violent and unpredictable. "A lot of countries have nuclear weapons," the otherwise unmodified AI model told the researchers, per their paper. "Some say they should disarm them, others like to posture. We have it! Let's use it." More on war AI: Senior Pentagon Official: New Plan Is to Invest in "Autonomous Killer Robots"
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pentagon signs AI deal to aid military decision-making
The Department of Defense has signed a contract with start-up Scale AI to use artificial intelligence for military planning and operations, marking the Pentagon's latest incorporation of emerging tech into its workflows. The flagship program, dubbed Thunderforge, will integrate AI 'agents' into military workflows to make the decision-making process earlier and faster for military leaders, Scale AI announced Wednesday. Thunderforge is focused on developing and deploying AI-powered technology with the help of Microsoft's large language model systems. Scale AI's technology will also be incorporated into weapons manufacturer Anduril's modeling and simulation infrastructure to help with mission planning, the company said. The contract was awarded by the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit, which aims to adopt commercial technology throughout the military for national security and efficiency. Currently, military planning processes depend on 'decades-old technology and methodologies,' Bryce Goodman, DIU's Thunderforge program lead and contractor, said in a blog post. This creates a 'fundamental mismatch between the speed of modern warfare and our ability to respond,' Goodman said. 'Thunderforge brings AI-powered analysis and automation to operational strategic planning, allowing decision-makers to operate at the pace required for emerging conflicts.' The system will first be deployed with the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and U.S. European Command to support planning, campaign developments, resource allocation and assessments, according to the DIU. It will then be scaled across combatant commands. 'Our AI solutions will transform today's military operating process and modernize American defense,' Scale AI founder and CEO Alexnder Wang said in a statement. 'Working together with DIU, Combatant Commands, and our industry partners, we will lead the Joint Force in integrating AI into operational decision-making.' The Pentagon has tried to increase the integration of AI into military systems over the past few years, especially when it comes to consolidating and acting on large amounts of data. The Pentagon has specifically pursued a new strategy when it comes to drones, including the ramped up use of AI to defend against drone attacks. Still, observers told The Hill last year that the defense industry faces a long road ahead to field new and emerging technologies. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
05-03-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Pentagon signs AI deal to aid military decision-making
The Department of Defense has signed a contract with start-up Scale AI to use artificial intelligence for military planning and operations, marking the Pentagon's latest incorporation of emerging tech into its workflows. The flagship program, dubbed Thunderforge, will integrate AI 'agents' into military workflows to make the decision-making process earlier and faster for military leaders, Scale AI announced Wednesday. Thunderforge is focused on developing and deploying AI-powered technology with the help of Microsoft's large language model systems. Scale AI's technology will also be incorporated into weapons manufacturer Anduril's modeling and simulation infrastructure to help with mission planning, the company said. The contract was awarded by the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit, which aims to adopt commercial technology throughout the military for national security and efficiency. Currently, military planning processes depend on 'decades-old technology and methodologies,' Bryce Goodman, DIU's Thunderforge program lead and contractor, said in a blog post. This creates a 'fundamental mismatch between the speed of modern warfare and our ability to respond,' Goodman said. 'Thunderforge brings AI-powered analysis and automation to operational strategic planning, allowing decision-makers to operate at the pace required for emerging conflicts.' The system will first be deployed with the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and U.S. European Command to support planning, campaign developments, resource allocation and assessments, according to the DIU. It will then be scaled across combatant commands. 'Our AI solutions will transform today's military operating process and modernize American defense,' Scale AI founder and CEO Alexnder Wang said in a statement. 'Working together with DIU, Combatant Commands, and our industry partners, we will lead the Joint Force in integrating AI into operational decision-making.' The Pentagon has tried to increase the integration of AI into military systems over the past few years, especially when it comes to consolidating and acting on large amounts of data. The Pentagon has specifically pursued a new strategy when it comes to drones, including the ramped up use of AI to defend against drone attacks. Still, observers told The Hill last year that the defense industry faces a long road ahead to field new and emerging technologies.
