WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. and India have agreed to engage in new talks about artificial intelligence and its use in matters of national security, an outgrowth of the nations\u2019 deepening relationship at a time of sharpened Indo-Pacific focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
News of the inaugural Defense Artificial Intelligence Dialogue came after Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with their Indian counterparts<\/a>, Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh and Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar, April 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both the Defense and State departments acknowledged the topic in their accounts of the international get-together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe United States and India signed a Space Situational Awareness arrangement, which lays the groundwork for more advanced cooperation in space,\u201d the Pentagon said in a readout<\/a>. \u201cThey also agreed to launch an inaugural Defense Artificial Intelligence Dialogue, while expanding joint cyber training and exercises.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jack Shanahan, the first director of the Pentagon\u2019s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, described the prospective talks as a \u201cvery significant event,\u201d one that is \u201ca logical extension\u201d of the flagship U.S.-India Artificial Intelligence initiative, or USIAI, launched around this time last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s clear India has got an interest in bringing AI into national security,\u201d the retired Air Force lieutenant general told C4ISRNET<\/a> April 14. \u201cSo, this is a good chance for the two defense departments to work together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On April 12, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said Austin had the chance this week to speak with Singh about \u201cworking with them on AI\u201d and other advanced technologies, like 5G.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll that was part of it,\u201d Kirby said<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ll leave it to you to decide whether those are \u2018breakthroughs\u2019 or not. But, clearly what we saw yesterday was more concrete examples of the ways we\u2019re going to continue to work with India to strengthen this defense partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Few additional details were immediately available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt seems to me what you\u2019re going to see is an agreement just to, sort of, move forward and talk about potential projects<\/a> that they can work on together,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cAnd what I would expect is that it will not involve war-fighting operations, at least not initially.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Defense Department has for years recognized artificial intelligence as a crucial technology, one that can accelerate decision making, enhance data consumption and, more broadly, offer a leg up on the battlefield. As of April 2021, the department was juggling at least 685 artificial intelligence projects, including more than a dozen for major weapons systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\t