OpenAI's Open-Weight Models Are Coming to the US Military The gpt-oss models are being tested for use on sensitive military computers. But some defense insiders say that OpenAI is still behind the competition. When OpenAI unveiled its first open-weight models in years this August, it wasn't just tech companies that were paying attention. The release also excited US military and defense contractors, which saw a chance to use them for highly secure operations. Initial results show that OpenAI's tools lag behind competitors in desired capabilities, some military vendors tell WIRED.

Craig Martell, Head of Machine Learning at Lyft, is set to head the Pentagon's AI efforts. Breaking Defense first broke the news after learning Martell was destined to be named as the Pentagon's new chief digital and AI officer. Martell has significant AI industry experience – leading efforts at not just Lyft but also Dropbox and LinkedIn – but has no experience navigating public-sector bureaucracy. The Pentagon is going to be very much "in at the deep-end" for Martell in that regard, something which he fully acknowledges. "I don't know my ways around the Pentagon yet and I don't know what levers to pull," said Martell to Breaking Defense.

According to U.S. intelligence reports, China successfully convinced Russia to delay its invasion of Ukraine until after the Beijing Olympics. China has denied the accusations, but reports suggest that however the current crisis in Ukraine ends, Moscow is likely to end up as Beijing's junior partner on the international stage. There's no doubt that China has become the United States' major competitor. The recent Beijing Olympics showcased one particular threat, as China trotted out new artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics technologies with vital relevance to Washington's current geopolitical tensions with Beijing. From driverless buses to high-speed rail powered by 5G, advanced Chinese technology was featured front and center.

As every aspect of modern life becomes more and more digitized, not just the economies of nations, but their sovereign influence will rely more and more on their command of technology, and especially the emerging technology of artificial intelligence (AI). In the 21st-century information technology revolution, whoever reaches a breakthrough in developing AI will come to dominate the world. "Artificial intelligence is a resource of colossal power," Russian President Vladimir Putin said at AI Journey 2019 conference, a major Eastern European forum on AI held in Moscow on Nov. 9, 2019. "Those who will own it will take the lead and will acquire a huge competitive edge." Putin expressed his concern about Russia's role in the artificial intelligence race in the forum--its two competitors, the United States and China, are far ahead of other countries in the AI race. "We must, and I am confident that we can become one of the global leaders in AI. This is a matter of our future, of Russia's place in the world," Putin added. Though the United States is still the world leader in terms of AI, China is quickly moving to take its place. On Oct. 16, Nicolas Chaillan, the former chief software officer of the U.S. Air Force, told The Epoch Times that the United States is set to lose the AI race against communist China if Washington doesn't act fast.

What does it mean to be first in developing applications of artificial intelligence (AI), and does it matter? In a recent interview, the former Chief Software Officer of the U.S. Air Force Nicolas Chaillan stated that he resigned in part because he believed that, "We have no competing chance against China in fifteen to twenty years. Right now, it's already a done deal; it is already over." He reasoned that a failure of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to follow through on stated intentions to build up in AI and cyber means many departments within DoD still operate at what Chaillan considers a "kindergarten level." Those are strong words, but Chaillan's overall assessment misses the mark--the United States becoming an AI also-ran is not a foregone conclusion.

The incoming US Secretary of the Air Force said that China was winning the battle of Artificial Intelligence over the United States. He admitted that China would soon defeat the United States in this high-tech field. Although the Secretary of the Air Force appointed by President Joe Biden has not yet taken office, he publicly replied to the biggest recent controversy in US political and military circles: the Air Force Chief Software Officer, Nicholas Chaillan, who resigned on October 11 last, said that China had already overtaken the United States and won the battle of Artificial Intelligence against it. Kendall III said he agreed with the statement made by Chaillan. Nicholas Chaillan told the media that the United States not only made slow progress in the field of Artificial Intelligence, but that the said progress was also limited by various rules.

Artificial Intelligence technology has penetrated all areas of each country's corporate and national security sectors and is used to plan, design and implement specific actions for complex affairs. Chaillan believes that Kendall's connection demonstrates that the Secretary is determined to make changes to support the US government to excel once again in the competition for Artificial Intelligence. Jim Waldo, an IT scientist and Chief Technology Officer at Harvard University, said he was not as pessimistic as Chaillan about the US chances in the Artificial Intelligence battle against the People's Republic of China. Some media reports also pointed out that, in fact, Chaillan's original statement was that if the United States did not increase investment and make plans and projects advance, it would lose in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Reuters reported: "China has won the Artificial Intelligence battle with the United States and is on its way to global domination thanks to its technological advances, as the former Pentagon Chief Software Officer told the Financial Times".

Nicolas Chaillan, who resigned as the Air Force chief software officer, warns of the'existential threat' China's technological advantages pose. The former chief software officer for the U.S. Air Force was "not surprised" by China's nuclear-capable rocket launch and warned that the U.S. "is running out of time" to catch up in the artificial intelligence race against China. "AI is so important to what's coming next in terms of innovation, but also in terms of weapons, quite honestly," Nicolas Chaillan told Fox News in an interview. China's expanding artificial intelligence and tech capabilities are "an existential threat to our kids and all our friendly nations' kids as well," he added. Chaillan served as the chief software officer in the Air Force for three years before announcing his resignation last month, criticizing the Pentagon's low prioritization of technological innovation on his way out.

China has the competitive edge against the US in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), according to the Pentagon's former chief software officer. "We have no competing fighting chance against China in 15 to 20 years," Nicolas Chaillan said in an interview with London-based business newspaper, Financial Times. He called the current situation "a done deal," adding that, in his opinion, the race between China and the US was "already over." Chaillan predicted that China is heading for global dominance because of its advancements in the fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning and cyber capabilities, the Financial Times reported. He slammed US cyber defense capabilities as at "kindergarten level" in some government departments.

Nicolas Chaillan, the Pentagon's former Chief Software Officer, is on a whirlwind press tour to drum up as much fervor for his radical assertion that the US has already lost the AI race against China. We have no competing fighting chance against China in 15 to 20 years. Right now, it's already a done deal. Chaillan's departure from the Pentagon was preceded by a "blistering letter" where he signaled he was quitting out of frustration over the government's inability to properly implement cybersecurity and artificial intelligence technologies. Tickets to TNW Conference 2022 are available now! And, now, he's telling anyone who will listen that the US has already lost a war to China that hasn't even happened yet.