Generative AI has picked up incredible momentum in the last few months. Hype is now becoming reality, with companies of all sizes, in all industries, embracing GPT and other large language models (LLMs) to enhance business operations and customer offerings. We are seeing first-hand how this technology can truly transform organisations, and the relationship between human and machine. At the same time, we are in the defining'decade of data' – a period marked by the fundamental shifts in power created by the intersection of technology and data and the impact this has in every facet of our lives. In today's landscape, a company's data can be two or three times more valuable than the company itself.

Over the decades, numerous foundational technologies have emerged from U.S. military-funded research: among them, semiconductors, cryptography, the internet, GPS and mobile phones. "They arose out of war -- or the fear of war" that characterized the Cold War era, says Will Carter of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. This shift in the balance of power between AI funding and development means the private sector is leading in an area with "massive national security implications," says Gregory Allen, an adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security. The backstory: This dynamic reflects a general lack of government leadership on AI, some experts say. Unlike China, Japan, South Korea, the U.K., France, Canada, and several other countries, the U.S. has not outlined a clear national vision for AI development.