The Pentagon is seen in October 2021. (Robert H. Reid/Stars and Stripes)
U.S. military commanders will use artificial intelligence tools to plan and help execute movements of ships, planes and other assets under a contract called “Thunderforge” led by startup Scale AI, the company said Wednesday.
The deal comes as the Defense Department and the U.S. tech industry are becoming more closely entwined. Scale will use AI tools from Microsoft and Google to help build Thunderforge, which is also being integrated into startup weapons developer Anduril’s systems.
The Thunderforge project aims to find ways to use AI to speed up military decision-making during peace and wartime. Commanders’ roles have become more challenging as military operations and equipment have become more complex and technology-centric, with missions involving drones and conventional forces spanning land, sea and air, as well as cyberattacks.
Under the new contract, Scale will develop AI programs that commanders could ask for recommendations about how to most efficiently move resources throughout a region. The technology could combine data from intelligence sources and battlefield sensors with information on the positions of friendly and enemy planes and ships.
Today, commanders must often make decisions based on information from various staff officers and sensor systems. “The planning and operational process for the U.S. military has not evolved since Napoleon,” said Dan Tadross, the head of federal delivery at Scale who previously served with the Marines and researched military applications of AI for the Navy.
After years of theorizing that AI could help military planning, the technology is now at the point where it can actually be helpful, Tadross said in an interview.
The Thunderforge contract was awarded by the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit, a Silicon Valley-based division aimed at helping tech companies integrate their products into the military. The technology will initially be deployed with the U.S. military’s European Command and Indo-Pacific Command.
A solicitation for the Thunderforge contract issued by the Defense Innovation Unit last year said it would use generative AI, the technology underpinning chatbots like ChatGPT. It listed capabilities of interest including generating intelligence summaries and draft operations orders, while also providing audit trails for AI recommendations.
Military officials are trying to increase use of AI software and autonomous drones and ships to help the United States stand up to China as Beijing flexes its military might in the Pacific.
A wave of military tech startups challenging established defense contractors have won contracts from the Pentagon in recent years. Scale, founded in 2016 by the son of two Los Alamos National Laboratory physicists, has aggressively pitched itself as a company that can help the United States win a geopolitical battle with China.
Tech giants seeking new markets have found the military to be a willing partner as it attempts to upgrade its technology to match that of the private sector.
Some companies such as Google that used to be cautious about military contracting have recently become more comfortable with the Defense Department. The company recently dropped a pledge not to build AI for weapons or surveillance.
Arms control advocates have campaigned against military use of AI, arguing that humans must maintain direct control of weapons to guarantee their use stays within ethical bounds. The U.S. military and tech companies working with it have charged ahead with automation projects, arguing that humans will retain meaningful control and that the nation’s enemies are building AI tools of their own.
Tadross said the Thunderforge project is meant to help commanders with planning and strategizing and not to support front-line soldiers making decisions about using weapons.
