Keep pulling the thread on Emil Michael.
The stated goal of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering is to foster the creation of five new major defense technology companies.
The U.S. AI action plan and related executive orders signal the nation's official policy to achieve and maintain dominance in artificial intelligence.
The Department of War has a budget of nearly one trillion dollars.
While the U.S. was focused on counter-terrorism, China invested heavily in advanced military capabilities, including space technology and hypersonic missiles.
The Department of War has reduced its list of critical technology areas from 14 to 6 to increase focus and accelerate progress.
"Applied AI" is the number one critical technology area for the Department of War, focusing on adapting commercial AI advancements from companies like OpenAI and xAI for defense applications.
The Department of War has designated "Scaled hypersonic weapons," defined as weapons capable of traveling over Mach 5, as a critical technology area.
A primary goal for the Department of War's hypersonic weapons program is to reduce manufacturing costs to enable production at scale.
"Scaled directed energy" is a critical technology area for the Department of War, with applications including space-based defense and countering drug-smuggling drones.
"Contested logistics" is a critical technology area for the Department of War, focused on supplying food, water, energy, and munitions to distant operational theaters.
"Battlefield information dominance" is a critical technology area for the Department of War, aimed at achieving superiority in sensor data and intelligence during a conflict.
"Bio-manufacturing" is a critical technology area for the Department of War, exploring the use of biological processes to create new materials, separate rare earth metals, and produce synthetic blood.