US advances in AI to blunt China military depend on more streamlined Pentagon: senior official

Early test is Replicator Initiative, which aims to field thousands of American autonomous systems across land, sea and air within next 18 to 24 months

Pentagon says emerging capabilities now at centre of strategic planning as it accelerates ‘the fielding of capabilities at speed and at scale’

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The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, outside Washington DC, serves as headquarters for the US Department of Defence and employs some 27,000 military personnel and civilians. Photo: AP

Mark Magnierin New YorkandIgor Patrickin Washington

Published: 6:00am, 10 Jan 2024Updated: 7:25am, 10 Jan 2024

Developing America’s artificial intelligence capability so it can effectively respond to the Chinese military’s “pacing challenge” requires as much focus on restructuring the Pentagon’s bureaucracy as it does on building actual weapons systems, a senior US defence official said on Tuesday.

An early test will be the Pentagon’s Replicator Initiative, which aims to field thousands of autonomous systems across land, sea and air within the next 18 to 24 months, said Michael Horowitz, a US deputy assistant secretary of defence.

Unveiled in August, the initiative plays a central role in countering China’s rapid military build-up.

“We used to think about either you have precision, or you have mass … What we need in many instances is going to be precise mass,” explained Horowitz. “And so the Replicator Initiative is about a process as much as anything else.

“It’s about showing we can do hard things that we can develop, and especially accelerate the fielding of capabilities at speed and at scale.”