An AI arms race with China dominates the congressional agenda as state-level AI regulations loom, fueling debates on preempting a patchwork of laws while weighing AI's public benefits and risks.
Defense tech startup Anduril raises $2.5 billion in Series G funding led by Founders Fund, doubling its valuation to $30.5 billion after revenue reached $1 billion and securing the U.S. Army's massive $22 billion AR/VR headset contract from Microsoft.
President Trump's $500 billion Stargate Initiative aims to streamline regulations, promote AI innovation, integrate renewable energy, and maintain global AI leadership and national security, positioning companies aligned with these goals for a competitive advantage.
Raft unveils groundbreaking AI and data solutions tailored for mission-critical public sector needs, offering weapons-grade platforms, agentic AI capabilities, complex software development, digital ecosystems, and artificial intelligence solutions to drive mission success.
Stanford engineers partnered with the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School to offer a two-week course on AI and emerging technologies, helping prepare test pilots to evaluate autonomous aircraft and satellites for future defense operations through hands-on learning and industry visits.
Major Chinese tech giants like ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent hoarded billions of dollars' worth of Nvidia's H20 AI chips, designed for sale in China, in anticipation of U.S. export restrictions, aiming to stockpile around 1 million chips before the curbs were imposed in April.
Palantir, the data analytics firm, has secured a $99.8 million contract from the US Army to expand its AI/ML capabilities across all military branches, supporting the Department of Defense's CJADC2 initiatives by operationalizing AI and machine learning for battlespace awareness, logistics, and targeting.
China's export curbs on rare earth elements essential for U.S. defense technologies like fighter jets and missiles threaten America's military edge, as the country lacks short-term alternatives to China's supply of these critical materials, potentially widening the capability gap with Beijing.
In a groundbreaking move, NATO has awarded a rapid 6-month contract to Palantir for its Maven Smart System AI platform, accelerating AI adoption to enhance battlefield intelligence, situational awareness, planning, and decision-making capabilities across NATO operations.
The US military is embracing generative AI for intelligence tasks like translation and analysis, utilizing tools from companies like Vannevar Labs, but concerns linger about the accuracy and potential misuse of such powerful technology in sensitive military applications.