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OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, and U.S. defense contractor Anduril recently announced a strategic partnership “to develop and responsibly deploy advanced artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for national security missions.” The aim is to combine OpenAI’s generative artificial intelligence models with Anduril’s defense systems to protect U.S. and allied military personnel against unmanned drone attacks.
The focus will be on enhancing the U.S. counter-unmanned aircraft systems (CUAS) with real-time detection, assessment, and interception of potential aerial threats like drone strikes that could be lethal. AI can enhance these abilities with greater accuracy.
About the Partnership
Anduril develops autonomous air systems tasked to perform a variety of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, and will provide the data on the threats and operations of CUAS to train the AI models, the announcement said.
Founded in 2017, Anduril leads in integrated autonomous solutions and is also partnering with the San Jose, California-based air-taxi maker Archer Aviation to develop hybrid aircraft for defense purposes. The partnership is seen as part of its commitment and strategy to boosting the technology capability of the U.S. and its allies amidst growing threats from China’s aggressive development and use of AI in deadly weapons, submarines, warships, and fighter jets.
Anduril co-founder and CEO Brian Schimpf said the partnership with OpenAI will let the company tap into “world class” AI experience to address urgent air defense capability gaps. “We are committed to developing responsible solutions that enable military and intelligence operators to make faster, more accurate decisions in high-pressure situations,” he said.
Growing Threat Landscape
The U.S. sees China as a threat to its dominance in the Indo-Pacific region. Both countries are locked in a race to deploy AI-powered weapons of war and killer robots. Australia’s Defense Strategic Review warned about China’s ambitious military build up in April 2024, the largest since World War II. A crisis in this theater could emerge anytime soon with the increased tension on freedom of navigation and territorial disputes between China and its neighboring nations that value democracy, including the Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan.
“OpenAI builds AI to benefit as many people as possible, and supports U.S.-led efforts to ensure the technology upholds democratic values,” said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, adding that its AI technology “protects U.S. military personnel.”
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