Project Maven has made huge strides in its first year, but the key is remaining open to updates from whoever has the best idea for new algorithms, and new code, a military leader says.

While countries like Russia and China are investing heavily in artificial intelligence without restraints, the US and allied militaries like South Korea face a rising tide of opposition.

WASHINGTON: When former Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work heard the head of Google’s parent company, Eric Schmidt, say this morning that America needs a national strategy for developing Artificial Intelligence, one image sprang to his mind’s eye. “The image that popped into my mind was of Nikita Khrushchev banging his shoe in the UN and… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: When a computer system defeated one of the greatest masters of the complex game known as Go last year, the world gasped. Experts had said months before that such an event would not occur in their lifetimes. Last night, the magazine Nature published an article by DeepMind, the Google company behind that breakthrough, claiming… Keep reading →

AUSA: Google does it. Tesla does it. So why isn’t the Army deploying self-driving cars and trucks throughout the world to save lives and move gear without weighing down soldiers? The Army’s chief roboticist, Bob Sadowski, talked with me about what makes it so challenging for the military to design autonomous trucks that can crawl their… Keep reading →

GEOINT: Small satellites — thousands of them, spinning round the Earth, taking endless photos from low earth and sun-synchronous orbits. Drones flying round neighborhoods or sitting on your windowsill and taking photos or relaying imagery. And you thought the NSA program that scooped up your phone’s metadata was intrusive? When most Americans think of privacy and… Keep reading →

SILICON VALLEY: Defense Secretary Ash Carter changed the leadership today of his flagship office trying to improve relations with entrepreneurs and major companies here. At the same time, Carter reorganized the Defense Innovation Unit (Experimental) — DIU(X) — to link it directly to his office, largely bypassing the traditional Pentagon acquisition system. In a prepared statement… Keep reading →

With the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act completed and headed to the president’s desk likely sometime next week, it’s useful to summarize the biggest policy changes therein. While most Republicans do not take the veto threat seriously, Mr. Obama will surely do just that. Still, when this bill eventually receives his signature later this year… Keep reading →

“When reached by cell phone the Taliban claimed credit,” said Google Chairman Eric Schmidt referring to Malala Yousufzai, the young woman shot and critically-injured for protesting against the Taliban. “We know their phone number? Hmm. Why don’t we know where they are?”

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA: Google will soon make public information about virtually every ship at sea, giving the current location and identity even of American warships. Meanwhile, the company is consulting with the Navy and others about security issues. UPDATED: (3:30 p.m.) Clarified Google Uses Satellite Technology, Not Building Satellites Google paid several million dollars for… Keep reading →