In developing artificial intelligence for use on the battlefield and throughout the defense enterprise, the U.S. military is challenging China and other adversaries to a multigenerational contest. At stake is nothing less than global dominance in the fast-arriving digital future. "We are in a contest for the character of the international order in the digital age," Air Force Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, director of the Pentagon's new Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, told reporters at a recent briefing. "Our potential adversaries are moving very deliberately towards a future of artificial intelligence." To get an edge on the competition, the U.S. military plans to "democratize" access to AI development tools across the Defense Department, through a collaborative, cloud-based platform called the Joint Common Foundation.