U.S. Military AI Strategy: Biden Administration's National Security Focus

The Biden administration emphasizes urgent A.I. adoption for military use to counter adversaries leveraging technology without American values.

### Accelerating AI Adoption in U.S. Military and Intelligence: A New National Security Strategy
* 🤖 The Biden administration emphasizes the **urgent need for the U.S. to accelerate its adoption of artificial intelligence (AI)** for military and intelligence applications to **maintain an edge over adversaries** already utilizing these technologies.
* 📜 A new national security memorandum outlines a comprehensive strategy aimed at **ensuring the U.S. can compete effectively while upholding American values**, as highlighted by President Biden's national security adviser.
* 🗳 With the upcoming U.S. presidential election in **less than two weeks**, there is a pressing time limit on the current administration's ability to implement these strategies, raising questions about **future directions under potential new leadership**.
* 🔍 The memo includes a detailed to-do list for military and intelligence officials, but it remains uncertain **how much of this will be executed before President Biden leaves office**, especially considering differing visions from potential successors.
* 🏢 The strategy also emphasizes **collaboration with the private sector**, acknowledging that **most AI innovation is occurring outside the government**, and calls for **stronger partnerships with tech companies** to leverage their advancements.
* ⚖ Ethical considerations are paramount, particularly regarding the use of AI in military contexts, where a **risk-based approach** categorizes applications based on their **potential dangers**, ensuring that **high-risk uses** are subjected to **stringent safeguards**.
* 🚀 The Biden administration's directive includes **expanding the vendor database for defense technology**, aiming to integrate both **established firms and startups** into government projects, thus fostering a **diverse technological ecosystem**.
* 🌐 This approach seeks to **enhance the U.S. military's capabilities** while navigating the complexities of **AI ethics and international regulations**, ensuring **responsible and effective deployment** of these technologies.

Let's talk about the Biden administration saying that the U.S. must accelerate its adoption of A.I. for military and intelligence use and a new national security memorandum. The White House outlines efforts to maintain an edge over rivals and increase safety. Courtney Rosen of Limited Government joins us now. And you've really been focusing in on why the U.S. government is suddenly ramping up this narrative. What's behind it, Courtney? Well, the primary part of all of this is that U.S. adversaries are already deploying A.I. in their militaries and their intelligence uses. And that's what President Biden's national security adviser said yesterday. He said that these things are advancing without American values. And so the U.S. has to keep up in order to keep up with the adversaries. Courtney, I want to get into kind of the specifics of what a strategy might look like. But I think to be fair to our audience, I'm Bloomberg Technology around the

world. We're all kind of conscious that we have a US presidential election in less than two weeks, and therefore the existing administration has a time limit on what it can or can't do while in office. Just kind of take that and explain that bit to us, please. This memo that President Biden's team published yesterday lays out a whole bunch of To-Do lists for military officials, intelligence officials. The president's not going to be in power long enough to see a lot of that through. So we need to be thinking about what the next president would do on these issues. Now, the Republican platform says that President Trump would repeal a lot of the Biden administration's consumer policies on a guy. It doesn't really have a take on military and intelligence, he says. So that's one particular vision forward. And then you've got Vice President Kamala Harris, who has really been the face of A.I. for this administration on the

international stage and had a hand in developing a lot of these policies. So two very different visions. But regardless, it's not going to be President Biden who's executing on these things. Courtney on this program. We talk to companies all the time like Palantir and Israel, private sector publicly traded companies or startups that tell us they're working more and more with the government. What about from the government side? Is this strategy they plan based on working with the private sector? Yes. Jake Sullivan, who's President Biden's national security adviser, yesterday made a speech about this artificial intelligence and national security strategy. And he devoted a lot of time to talking about how A.I. innovation is largely happening in the private sector and not in government. There was a lot of talk about how the U.S. government is going to have to work with tech companies to make that happen in a way that maybe they hadn't in different eras of technology. Now, I was sitting in a room here in

Washington a couple of months ago during Naito when Oracle staffer Cat said something very similar that the tech is existing in the companies the government is behind and the two have to get along to make this work. What's interesting is the ethics around it and any limitations coming from the United Nations. There is this tension around autonomous weapons and AI and ultimately their use in the battlefield. How is that something that perhaps Jake Sullivan is speaking to or trying to navigate? They put together what they call or what I would call a risk-based approach. Right. The riskiest uses of AI in military and intelligence settings. For example, using it to make decisions about weapons targeting like what you were talking about that should require the most safeguards and the most thinking about ethics tasks that are smaller and don't necessarily need those kind of guardrails, according to the Biden administration. So they're really thinking about this as tiers of risks, which matches up what

they've done with consumer A.I. as well. And is it going to be the companies that we've just referenced, the ones that are already leading the way? Are they looking to spark even smaller companies to be integrated within government? Right now the strategy. President Biden directed his procurement teams at the Department of Defense to work on expanding the database or call them of vendors for this technology. And so they're definitely trying to yes, of course, work with the big guys like what you've talked about, but also to engage with the startup community and to make sure that they have access to this opportunity to help the U.S. government and help the military just as much as the bigger players would.

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The Biden administration is pushing for a faster adoption of A.

in military and intelligence to keep up with U.

The national security memorandum outlines a to-do list for military and intelligence officials, but the president's limited time in office raises questions about the strategy's long-term implementation.

The upcoming presidential election adds uncertainty, with the Republican platform offering a different vision for A.

Government's Strategy for AI and National Security

government's strategy for AI and national security involves close collaboration with the private sector, as most AI innovation is happening outside of government.

Jake Sullivan, President Biden's national security adviser, emphasized the need for tech companies to work with the government to drive AI innovation.

This approach marks a shift in how the government plans to engage with the private sector for technological advancement.

The Ethical Tensions of AI and Autonomous Weapons

There is a growing concern about the relationship between the tech industry and the government, particularly in the context of AI and autonomous weapons.

The Biden administration is taking a risk-based approach to AI in military and intelligence settings, prioritizing the most dangerous uses, such as weapons targeting, for stricter safeguards.

This approach aims to navigate the ethical dilemmas and limitations set by the United Nations while addressing the varying levels of risk associated with AI tasks.

government is looking to integrate consumer A.

by expanding its vendor database, as directed by President Biden.

The strategy involves working with both large companies and engaging with the startup community.

The goal is to provide equal opportunities for smaller companies to contribute to the government's and military's A.