Trump bets on AI to transform US military
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said the United States is reshaping its military around artificial intelligence, robotics and other emerging technologies, as his administration seeks to accelerate innovation and prepare the armed forces for the next generation of warfare.
Speaking at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit on Wednesday (local time), Trump said the government was working closely with technology companies and investors to speed up the development and deployment of advanced military capabilities.
“The talent and innovation in this room will keep America safe for many years to come,” Trump said. “They are very advanced, the most advanced equipment anywhere in the world.”
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon was abandoning a slow procurement model in favour of one driven by competition, commercial innovation and technological speed.
“Our bureaucracy was built to keep most of you out, and we’ve been waging a war of attrition against the Pentagon bureaucracy to open up the aperture and make sure competition and speed and innovation and commercial options have a seat at the table,” Hegseth said.
He said the United States was at a pivotal moment in military technology.
“AI and frontier models, autonomy, quantum space, hypersonics — you name it. If you’re ahead now and you get ahead of the game, you’re going to be way ahead. If you fall behind now, you fall even further behind,” Hegseth said.
The summit brought together executives from major defence contractors, technology firms, venture capital companies and private equity investors, many of whom announced new investments in advanced manufacturing and defence technologies.
Voyager Technologies said it would invest hundreds of millions of dollars to turn Pittsburgh into an international robotics and space technology hub. Artificial intelligence software company AIR announced a $450 million expansion of its Pittsburgh operations, while Carnegie Robotics said it expected to produce hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of autonomous technology for the US Army and its vehicles.
Investor Antonio Gracias said the administration had fundamentally changed the environment for defence technology companies.
“We are literally seeing an environment in change at the DOD that is allowing these companies to accelerate and unleash American entrepreneurship in the defence area,” Gracias said.
Thomas Tull, Co-Chairman of TWG Global, said the changing policy environment was encouraging billions of dollars in investment.
“We’ve invested billions of dollars in defence tech because we know that we need it,” Tull said. “Without the change that you’re causing, these things aren’t possible.”
Hegseth said the administration wanted innovative companies to compete alongside established defence contractors rather than face years of bureaucratic hurdles.
“You shouldn’t have to sue your way into the Department of War, which is what companies in the past have had to do in order to compete,” he said.
The administration argues that artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, advanced robotics and quantum technologies will increasingly define future military capabilities. Pentagon officials have been expanding partnerships with commercial technology companies to accelerate the adoption of these technologies across the armed forces.