Pentagon Lays Out AI Strategy as It Plans for Future Space Missions
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the Pentagon’s push to make artificial intelligence central to U.S. military capabilities, aiming to create an “AI-first warfighting force” across planning and frontline operations. The Defense Department will deploy leading AI models—including Grok from xAI—on all internal networks. Grok, joining existing commercial AI tools from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Microsoft, will be used for defense planning, intelligence, and simulation. Hegseth emphasized the need for rapid innovation to maintain U.S. military superiority as AI proliferates globally, criticizing slow acquisition processes. He stressed that U.S. military AI dominance is essential to prevent adversaries from threatening national security. Hegseth also announced upgrades to Pentagon data infrastructure to improve operational data for AI. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk described Starbase’s role in advancing human spaceflight, while civil society groups raised concerns about Grok’s track record and its deployment in sensitive government contexts. Hegseth responded by reaffirming the Pentagon’s commitment to secure, lawful, and objective AI use and the recruitment of top technology talent from industry and academia.
