Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt says US military needs ‘systemic overhaul’

With AI technology, Ukraine’s soldiers “take out tanks and shoot down planes with devastating effectiveness,” they wrote. In Myanmar and Sudan, insurgents and the government rely on algorithms to fight. And in Gaza, Israel launches drones using AI.

“Future wars will no longer be about who can muster the most men or who can field the best planes, ships and tanks,” they wrote. “Instead, they will be dominated by increasingly autonomous weapon systems and powerful algorithms.”

Yet the United States, which remains the world’s most powerful military, has not kept up with the pace of innovation, Schmidt and Milley wrote. It hasn’t “embraced AI,” and the Pentagon doesn’t seem to be moving fast enough to change. In short, the military needs a “systemic overhaul” because “robots and AI are here to stay.”

Schmidt is already leading this charge with a new company called White Stork. The company is working on mass-producing drones that could use AI to identify targets to reduce the human cost of global warfare.

Schmidt previously chaired the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence for several years and was CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011.

During a recent talk at Stanford University, Schmidt said the Ukraine War inspired him to enter the defense industry, adding that he is now a “licensed arms dealer.”

“Because of the way the system works, I’m now a licensed gun dealer,” Schmidt said. “A computer scientist, businessman, arms dealer.”