The Pentagon's changes and call for people to embrace the use of AI in the military were announced by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during a visit to Starbase City on Monday.
It's part of what Hegseth calls an “Arsenal of Freedom” tour to revitalize America's manufacturing workforce.
“We need new strategies to win,” Hegseth said.
The new changes at the Department of Defense will focus on making “faster decisions” on innovation, Hegseth said.
“We need innovation that comes from everywhere and evolves with speed and the future,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth said the changes will help get technology into the hands of military personnel more quickly.
“When it comes to the current threat environment, we are playing a dangerous game with potentially deadly consequences,” Hegseth said.
These changes will come under new leadership that will oversee six “executive organizations” that he announced on Monday.
Hegseth's visit comes days after the U.S. Space Systems Command announced it would give SpaceX more than $700 million to strengthen its missile warning system and tracking capabilities.
A new AI strategy was also announced to make the United States an “AI-powered combat force.”
“This strategy will focus on investments to unlock experimentation, remove bureaucratic barriers, and ensure leadership in military AI,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth said that Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, will be added to Google's AI engine within the Department of Defense network to help with these efforts.
The announcement comes days after Grok, which is part of Musk's social media network X, drew global outcry and scrutiny for producing highly sexualized deepfake images of people without their consent, according to the Associated Press.
Hegseth announced that “all pertinent data” from military IT systems will be made available for “AI applications.” He also said that data from the intelligence database will be fed into the AI system.
Hegseth said President Donald Trump has proposed more than $1 trillion for the Pentagon in the upcoming fiscal year 2027 to continue the “innovation transformation.”
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