Eric Schmidt has prodded the Pentagon for years to hurry along its software-buying process. Today the AI tech investor and former Google CEO is more determined than ever to urge government decision-makers to pick up the pace, but not just when it comes to buying more software for the Defense Department. Schmidt wants the government to implement his sweeping blueprint to fight what he considers an existential threat to democracy posed by China's AI plans, an effort that could also bolster his own commercial AI interests. He says the U.S.'s national security and economic leadership are dependent upon spending billions to procure smarter software, bolster AI research, and build the country's computer science talent pool. And he says he knows better than the Pentagon itself how to remove the bureaucratic blockades preventing more agile use of AI by the government. But at the same time, Schmidt's venture capital firm Innovation Endeavors has invested in companies that have received multimillion-dollar contracts from federal agencies. Some of those investments and contracts -- reported here for the first time -- were granted between 2016 and 2021 while Schmidt chaired two influential government initiatives, the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Board and the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence.

After more than 100 days on the job, the U.S. Department of Defense's top artificial intelligence official said Thursday that the office's strategy will take a down-up approach and start with data. "It's true that most of my career has been in AI, but I don't think most of my work here at DoD will be about AI," Craig Martell, the Pentagon's first Chief Digital and AI Officer, said at the 2022 Intelligence & National Security Summit in National Harbor, Maryland. The Pentagon tapped Martell, a former head of machine learning at Lyft, to oversee its AI efforts this spring. The office subsumed multiple other defense digital authorities, including the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center and the Defense Digital Services, and reached full operational capability on June 1. While much of the talk about the CDAO has focused on its role as the Pentagon's leading AI authority, Martell said more attention and energy needs to be paid to data, which he said serves as the basis of the office's "hierarchy of needs."

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.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks in a statement said the move is aimed at increasing the speed at which the military develops advanced AI, data analytics and machine-learning technology. "Advances in AI and machine learning are critical to delivering the capabilities we need to address key challenges both today and into the future," Dr. Hicks said. In his role, Dr. Martell, who joined Lyft two years ago and has also led machine-learning development at software company Dropbox Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s LinkedIn, will oversee the department's new digital and AI office, the agency said. The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. Launched in February, the office is part of restructuring efforts that combine the department's enterprisewide data, AI and cyber initiatives under one roof.

The Department of Defense today announced that the Pentagon has hired Lyft Inc. head of machine learning Craig Martell as its first-ever chief digital and artificial intelligence officer. Martell will head up the DOD's Chief Digital and AI Office, which was created in December in order to centralize oversight of its data and AI initiatives under a single office in the Pentagon. As the person in charge of the CDAO, Martell will report directly to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks. The CDAO launched with limited operational capability in February and is expected to achieve full operational capability by the end of June, FedScoop reported. He also has prior U.S. military experience thanks to his service as a tenured computer science professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, where he specialized in natural language processing.

Dr. Craig Martell will serve as the Defense Department's new chief digital and artificial intelligence officer. Martell, who most recently served as the head of machine learning at Lyft after AI and machine learning-related positions with LinkedIn and Dropbox, will now serve as the Pentagon's senior official responsible for the "adoption of data, analytics, digital solutions and AI functions," according to a Pentagon press statement. "Advances in AI and machine learning are critical to delivering the capabilities we need to address key challenges both today and into the future," Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen H. Hicks said in a statement. "With Craig's appointment, we hope to see the department increase the speed at which we develop and field advances in AI, data analytics, and machine-learning technology. He brings cutting-edge industry experience to apply to our unique mission set."

The Pentagon is still new to wielding artificial intelligence, and it's looking to an outsider for help. Breaking Defense has learned Lyft machine learning head Craig Martell is joining the Defense Department as its Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer (CDAO). He'll lead the American military's strategies for AI, analytics and data, and should play a key part in a Joint All-Domain Command and Control initiative to improve multi-force combat awareness through technology. Martell is a partial outsider. While he directed the Naval Postgraduate School's AI-driven Natural Language Processing Lab for 11 years, he hasn't served in military leadership.