Cementing Silicon Valley Partnerships: A National Security Imperative.

• Date: 01 July 2018
• Author: Ivey, Matthew

In April, thousands of Google employees called for their company to discontinue support to Project Maven, a Department of Defense artificial intelligence initiative, stating that "Google should not be in the business of war."

Following suit, tech workers from Microsoft, IBM and Amazon urged Google to break its contract with the department and for other companies to refuse to work with it. On June 1, the company informed employees that it would not renew its contract with the Pentagon.

For several years now, tech luminaries such as Elon Musk and others have called for an outright ban on the development of AI-enabled "killer robots."

But in order to remain a global military leader and preserve U.S. national security, the department must make substantial investments in AI technology and leverage the expertise of Silicon Valley. Indeed, during a trip to the region last year, Secretary of Defense James Mattis insisted that AI has "got to be better integrated by the" Defense Department.

Obviously, Silicon Valley and the Pentagon are out of sync. Meanwhile, China and Russia are setting the conditions within their respective industrial bases to become world leaders in AI. In July 2017, the Chinese State Council released a comprehensive strategy entitled, New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan," directing a whole-of-government approach and strongly encouraging large technology companies like Alibaba and Baidu to invest heavily in the technology with the goal of becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.

Former Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work has called China's issuance of this strategy a "Sputnik moment." Russia has taken similar steps to increase its AI capabilities. Last September...