JUNG YEON-JE/pool/AFP via Getty ImagesTHE NEWS The U.S. is once again in an Oppenheimer-like existential struggle — but this time with China for dominance in the field of artificial intelligence, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in an interview. “AI is going to fundamentally change our way of life. It’s going to change how you do your business in the media. It’s going to change DOD. It’s going to change multiple fields and industries,” Esper told me on Tuesday. “We need to get there first and then we need to dominate that space.” Esper is among a growing number of former Pentagon officials and defense personnel who are plunging into the high-tech space in an effort to rapidly develop AI and machine-learning tools for integration into the U.S. military. The former Raytheon executive, now at the head of a new business venture, stressed that Beijing is currently outspending Washington on AI investments by a factor of three to one. And he said the Pentagon’s Byzantine procurement process must be streamlined to advance the effectiveness of U.S. weapons systems. “The United States does not have an innovation problem. We’re the most innovative country in the world,” Esper said. “But DOD has a tough time adopting that innovation.” JAY’S VIEW Esper — who last year became chairman of the national security practice at Red Cell Partners, a tech incubator focusing on the security and health care sectors — has obvious reasons to push greater integration of AI startups with the military, given his new job, but faces an uphill task. He argued that Silicon Valley had been wary of doing national security work in past years because of both ideological and business reasons. But he said this was changing as the tech industry recognizes the scale of the China challenge for the U.S., and the potential for AI in both military and commercial ventures. He led a task force at the Atlantic Council this year that produced 10 recommendations on how to better integrate AI and high tech into the military. These included allowing the Pentagon to more directly run a staple of portfolio investments through executive officers and for Congress to allow for more flexibility in the funding of new weapons systems. Esper said the battle with China for dominance in AI will play out over decades and might be harder to assess than previous geopolitical struggles. The U.S. was the first to detonate an atomic weapon, beating the Nazis and Soviet Union in the effort to build the bomb, making it the clear-cut victor. But the new technology competition might be more episodic. “I think it’s going to be an ongoing race for dominance, for mastering these technologies,” Esper said. “And it’s important that not just we do it, but we do it with our other Western democracies.” Still, the U.S. defense industry will be hard to revolutionize, given its size, the scale of its entrenched players, and the divide that’s developed between the national security and technology communities. Also, senior Pentagon officials haven’t had the best track record of transitioning into investing and startups: Among those who served on the board of Theranos — the scandal-wracked blood-testing company whose founder was imprisoned for defrauding investors — were former defense secretary William Perry, and James Mattis, a four-star general who would go on to become defense secretary himself. To read the rest of story, click here. |