{"id":25062,"date":"2018-08-13T14:21:11","date_gmt":"2018-08-13T14:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/08\/13\/defense-and-silicon-valley-dont-let-googles-folly-set-the-tone\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:05:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:05:52","slug":"defense-and-silicon-valley-dont-let-googles-folly-set-the-tone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2018\/08\/13\/defense-and-silicon-valley-dont-let-googles-folly-set-the-tone\/","title":{"rendered":"Defense and Silicon Valley: Don\u2019t let Google\u2019s folly set the tone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We\u2019ve been strategists our whole adult lives \u2014 as senior officials in the U.S. government, in the corporate world and in academia. But it didn\u2019t take those lifetimes of experience to know the fundamental rule of strategy: Seek to base your strategy on as unique and sustainable a competitive advantage as you might have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the United States, and its competitiveness in the global arena, that best source of an enduring competitive advantage is the innovation ecosystem of our private sector. Silicon Valley and other American pockets<\/a> of intense technological advances illustrate the genius of U.S. innovation \u2014 especially in the past half-century\u2019s maturation of the ecosystem of capital, ideas, experimentation, mass markets and rapid innovation. In strategic competition today, where competitive advantage comes from how you use data rather than how fast your plane might fly, the U.S. private sector is particularly strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was among many reasons why it was so painful for us to watch the short-sighted and self-referential decision by Google to not continue its artificial intelligence work for the Department of Defense under Project Maven<\/a>. In addition, according to scholars PW Singer and August Cole, Google bought several companies that were undertaking innovations in military robotics and then steered them away from continuing that work for our government. Our disappointment over Google\u2019s Project Maven politics turned to irritation when it was revealed this week that Google has been developing a censor-friendly search engine as part of its effort to re-enter the China market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We could bemoan Google\u2019s narrow vision or wrestle with the cultural questions here forever, but we are interested in pragmatic solutions for the rest of the innovation ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon, and the U.S. government more broadly, has to invest in advanced technologies such as AI, microelectronics, hypersonics and quantum computing because we are entering a time of renewed strategic competition. In particular, China is investing hundreds of billions \u2014 through companies, state-owned enterprises and government-backed investment funds \u2014 in the development of advanced technologies to strengthen its economic and strategic position in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\t