Thanks to reader Kip.

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Key Takeaways

The dominate military of the future may not be the one with the most powerful weapons but the most advanced AI.

While Silicon Valley was initially standoffish with the US military, that relationship is beginning to change.

Between 2022 and 2023, the US military nearly tripled its spending on AI, and it recently announced Replicator, an initiative to get AI into the field.

Snip

By Kristin Houser

It’s 2035. After decades of investment, the US military now has AI systems integrated throughout its operations. Autonomous drones, tanks, and fighter jets enhance US defenses, while leading (hopefully) to fewer civilian casualties and collateral damage. That’s one future, anyway.
AI warfare

In December 1941, Japan’s military attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing the US into World War II. Less than four years later, America ended the war by dropping two atomic bombs on Japan — a destructive demonstration of its technological supremacy over every other military in the world, at the time.

America has maintained its military supremacy ever since, through a combination of air power, economic might, and advanced weaponry, but the nature of war is rapidly changing, and it seems possible that the dominant military of the future won’t be the one with the most powerful weapons — it’ll be the one with the best AI.

To find out if the US can win this race, too, let’s look back at its AI history and the current trends that will decide whether it falls behind another world power.