1 month ago
The Pentagon is aiming to summation backing much than a hundredfold for an autonomous drone warfare program, according to fund documents released this week, signalling a awesome pivot towards AI-powered war.
In its 2027 budget, nan Pentagon has asked for complete $54bn to money nan Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, a 24,000% summation connected past year.
An overview of nan fund describes this money arsenic going towards “autonomous and remotely operated systems crossed air, land, and supra and beneath nan sea,” including nan “Drone Dominance” program.
The magnitude is complete half nan full defence fund of nan UK. In an sentiment portion published yesterday, erstwhile CIA head David Petraeus said it was “the largest azygous committedness to autonomous warfare successful history”.
However, Petraeus and others warned that nan US military, and AI companies, are mostly unprepared for nan risks and responsibilities of autonomous war.
“I deliberation each AI institution should beryllium beautiful worried astir nan early of AI weapons,” said Jeffrey Ladish, head of Palisade Research and a erstwhile information interrogator astatine Anthropic. Ladish said that autonomous systems could alteration nan dynamics of subject confrontation by making events specified arsenic coups easier to execute and much common.
“Evaluators support uncovering exploitable failures successful moreover nan astir precocious systems,” said Peter Wallich, a erstwhile UK AI Security Institute charismatic who advises MIT’s AI Risk Initiative.
“Every frontier AI strategy nan UK AI Security Institute tested successful December had exploitable safeguard failures … successful a defence context, those failures could endanger warfighters and civilians.”
The Pentagon has been successful a months-long dispute pinch nan AI institution Anthropic, aft Anthropic attempted to prohibit it from utilizing its exemplary for wide surveillance aliases afloat autonomous lethal weapons.
In nan overview of its fund request, it reiterated its committedness to obtaining “the latest models from nan apical American frontier AI labs” to beryllium utilized crossed nan Department of Defense.
The Defense Autonomous Warfare Group (DAWG) is simply a newly-created Pentagon department. It has absorbed a erstwhile Biden-era inaugural which aimed to acquire low-cost drones for usage successful early combat successful nan Pacific.
It is not clear whether nan money will beryllium spent connected acquiring existing technologies, aliases processing caller ones. US officials person described nan purpose of nan group as moving pinch nan backstage assemblage to trial different systems for autonomous drones, pinch nan purpose of processing and integrating these drone technologies into nan military.
The backing comes amid an ongoing effort by nan US to sever parts of its defence-tech ecosystem from China, pinch sweeping bans connected Chinese-made drones and components enacted past December.
Olaf Hichwa, nan co-founder and main exertion serviceman of Neros Technologies, a US drone manufacturer, said he viewed nan money arsenic a affirmative motion that nan Pentagon was responding to nan accelerated improvement successful battlefield technologies, particularly connected nan Ukrainian frontlines.
“What I’m excited for is that nan Pentagon seems to beryllium taking battlefield feedback earnestly from Ukraine and from Centcom and astir nan world. This is simply a clear ballot of assurance successful mini drones and I americium hopeful it will beryllium spent connected useful systems,” he said.
However, he said he hoped nan backing would beryllium spent connected proven innovations. “I do deliberation nan Department of War would use from an accrued privilege connected useful autonomy. Sometimes we bargain what looks bully successful a demo, because who doesn’t emotion a swarm demo that wows a batch of generals connected a subject base.
“But my optimistic position is that DAWG will cognize really to abstracted cool demo exertion from useful, battlefield-ready technology, particularly successful nan autonomy space.”
Questions stay complete really nan US mightiness create autonomous warfighting capabilities, and what this mightiness entail.
Petraeus’s sentiment portion said that nan US does not person a subject doctrine for really to deploy autonomous formations – specified arsenic drone swarms. These technologies are nether development, for illustration by nan Ukrainian package institution Swarmer.
Petraeus besides suggested that subject leaders would request important training successful really to negociate and nonstop autonomous systems.
There is simply a increasing ecosystem of US drone-tech companies that guidelines to use from this funding. These see established players specified arsenic Palmer Luckey’s Anduril, arsenic good arsenic startups specified arsenic Neros, Skydio and Powerus, a caller drone-tech institution which is backed by Donald Trump’s 2 eldest sons.
Some experts person suggested that nan money could beryllium better-spent elsewhere. Kristofer Harrison, a erstwhile State Department Russia specialist, said nan backing “seems for illustration a slush money for Anduril”, and suggested nan US mightiness do amended to activity pinch Ukrainian drone producers, who are making cheaper drones successful greater volumes than US startups.
“Instead of investing successful Ukrainian exertion that is being tested connected nan battlefield arsenic we speak, we’re helping Peter Thiel statement his pockets for hyper-specialized drones that person ne'er been tested connected nan battlefield,” he said.
The Pentagon has been approached for comment.
