{"id":17575,"date":"2018-04-18T21:32:03","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T21:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2018\/04\/18\/pentagon-developing-artificial-intelligence-center\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:01:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:01:04","slug":"pentagon-developing-artificial-intelligence-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/intel-geoint\/2018\/04\/18\/pentagon-developing-artificial-intelligence-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon developing artificial intelligence center"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/atype-video-jwplayer>
Unless the U.S. launches a national initiative on artificial intelligence and considers immigration changes, China is likely to eclipse America as the dominant force in AI, Google\u2019s top executive has warned.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

WASHINGTON \u2013 The Pentagon is working on a plan to stand up an artificial intelligence center in order to streamline the department\u2019s myriad AI programs<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea, which comes as defense officials are increasingly concerned<\/a> about China\u2019s investments in AI capabilities, has now been embraced by both Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis<\/a> and Michael Griffin, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the House Armed Services Committee April 12, Mattis said \u201cwe\u2019re looking at a joint office where we would concentrate all of DoD\u2019s efforts, since we have a number of AI efforts underway right now. We\u2019re looking at pulling them all together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In hearings Tuesday and Wednesday, Griffin elaborated on the state of that AI center, saying it is very much in the early stages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m working right now with folks on my staff to answer questions like \u2018who should lead it, where should it be, what projects should it do, and most importantly how does such a center fit into the overall AI strategy for the department and the nation?\u2019\u201d Griffin said on April 18. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the department counts 592 projects as having some form of AI in them, but noted that not all of those make sense to tie into an AI center. And Griffin wants to make sure smaller projects that are close to completion get done and out into prototyping, rather than tied up in the broader AI project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, Eric Schmidt, the former Google executive who chairs the Defense Innovation Board, said he hoped the AI center would be stood up in conjunction with one or more universities, in order to maximize the number of cutting-edge voices involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest benefit from creating an AI center may come from creating a clearing house of information which can be input into training an artificial intelligence, something Schmidt, who has previously been critical<\/a> of how DoD handles data, said is vital. <\/p>\n\n\n\t