WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday that will join Google鈥檚 generative AI engine in operating inside the Pentagon network, as part of a broader push to feed as much of the military’s data as possible into the developing technology.
鈥淰ery soon we will have the world鈥檚 leading AI models on every unclassified and classified network throughout our department,鈥� Hegseth said in a speech at Musk鈥檚 space flight company, SpaceX, in South Texas.
The announcement comes just days after Grok 鈥� which is embedded into X, the social media network owned by Musk 鈥� drew global outcry and scrutiny for of people without their consent.
Malaysia and Indonesia have blocked Grok, while the U.K.鈥檚 independent online safety watchdog announced an investigation Monday. Grok has to paying users.
Hegseth said Grok will go live inside the Defense Department later this month and announced that he would 鈥渕ake all appropriate data鈥� from the military鈥檚 IT systems available for 鈥淎I exploitation.鈥� He also said data from intelligence databases would be fed into AI systems.
Hegseth鈥檚 aggressive push to embrace the still-developing technology stands in contrast to the Biden administration, which, while to come up with policies and uses for AI, was also wary of misuse. Officials said rules were needed to ensure that the technology, which could be harnessed for mass surveillance, cyberattacks or even lethal autonomous devices, was being used responsibly.
The in late 2024 that directed national security agencies to expand their use of the most advanced AI systems but prohibited certain uses, such as applications that would violate constitutionally protected civil rights or any system that would automate the deployment of nuclear weapons. It is unclear if those prohibitions are still in place under the Trump administration.
During his speech, Hegseth spoke of the need to streamline and speed up technological innovations within the military, saying, 鈥淲e need innovation to come from anywhere and evolve with speed and purpose.鈥�
He noted that the Pentagon possesses 鈥渃ombat-proven operational data from two decades of military and intelligence operations.鈥�
鈥淎I is only as good as the data that it receives, and we鈥檙e going to make sure that it鈥檚 there,鈥� Hegseth said.
The defense secretary said he wants AI systems within the Pentagon to be responsible, though he went on to say he was shrugging off any AI models 鈥渢hat won鈥檛 allow you to fight wars.鈥�
Hegseth said his vision for military AI systems means that they operate 鈥渨ithout ideological constraints that limit lawful military applications,鈥� before adding that the Pentagon’s 鈥淎I will not be woke.鈥�
Musk developed and pitched Grok as an alternative to what he called 鈥渨oke AI鈥� interactions from rival chatbots like Google鈥檚 Gemini or OpenAI鈥檚 ChatGPT. In July, Grok also caused controversy after it that praised Adolf Hitler and shared several antisemitic posts.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to questions about the issues with Grok.
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