Pentagon Expands AI Use to Speed Up Kill Chain with OpenAI, Anthro

As AI continues to spread, companies like OpenAI and Anthropic navigate how to provide the Pentagon AI advanced software capabilities all while guaranteeing ethical boundaries.

The Department of Defense (DoD) hopes that the Pentagon AI project modernizes its operations with AI-powered tools without supporting indiscriminate autonomous systems to take human lives.

AI and the Pentagon

The Pentagon AI project began its role in the “kill chain” in its process of identifying, tracking, and neutralizing to assess threats. AI is not a weapon itself at this very moment, but it has turned out to be an important part in the DoD’s wider strategy.

“Kill chain” refers to the military’s integrated system of sensors, and weapons that identify, track, and eliminate threats. Using Pentagon AI weapons will assist in scenarios analysis and decision making in situations with advancing threats.

“We obviously are increasing the ways in which we can speed up the execution of kill chain so that our commanders can respond in the right time to protect our forces,” said the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and AI Officer, Dr. Radha Plumb to TechCrunch, highlighting how the Pentagon AI project will bring great advantage to commanders.

Pentagon AI collaboration is a new concept. In 2024, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta updated their usage policies to allow US defense and intelligence agencies to use their AI systems. But it has also been made clear by those tech giants that their technology won’t be used against humans to generate harm.

“We’ve been clear about what we will and won’t use their technologies for,” emphasized Plumb.

Deals between AI developers and Pentagon have accelerated, with Meta being associated with Lockheed Martin and Booz Allen, and Anthropic allied with Palantir, and OpenAI partnered with Anduril.

Purpose of Using AI Weapons Pentagon

Using AI for military purposes has been a concern about whether autonomous Pentagon AI weapons should be able to make life and death decisions. However, many argue that the US military already uses autonomous systems.

“As a matter of both reliability and ethics, we’ll always have humans involved in the decision to employ force, and that includes for our weapon systems.” Said Plumb.

AI experts, including Anthropic’s Evan Hubinger, assert the need to engage with military forces to ensure AI will be deployed responsibly without misuse.

“Working with the US government is necessary to ensure AI risks are addressed,” said Hubinger in an online forum. “It’s critical to prevent any potential misuse of AI models by government entities.”

Final Thoughts

The Pentagon AI work regarding intelligent technology keeps the balance between security advantages and blocking dangerous use of Pentagon AI drones and autonomous decisions.

The reliance on Pentagon AI projects will bring AI’s big influence on modern warfare. Despite the advantages, ethical, accountability and transparency in military decision-making risks are huge. And for that very reason, tech companies have the responsibility to ensure that AI is used under responsible human control with clear ethical guidelines in order to maintain global security.

Inside Telecom provides you with an extensive list of content covering all aspects of the tech industry. Keep an eye on our Intelligent Tech sections to stay informed and up-to-date with our daily articles.