The trend was already tracing itself through the corridors of power, but the world’s most powerful defence department has fallen, most heavily, for the use of artificial intelligence at virtually every level of its operations.  Even before the Pentagon’s intoxicating pursuit of artificial intelligence was announced, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was already running simulated aerial trials of combat engagements between AI agents and seasoned pilots.

In December 2025, the US Department of Defense (DOD) revealed plans for a rapid and extensive release of the generative AI GenAI.mil platform, one utilising advanced models intended for use for over 3 million military personnel, civilian employees and contractors.  Google Cloud’s Gemini or Government products was the first off the rank in a described “one-stop shop”, a generous effort on the part of bureaucracy to hail the machine and herald the start of full-throated cognitive surrender.  

In his December email to employees in a department the Trump administration prefers to call the War Department, Secretary of Defense (War) Pete Hegseth announced that the GenAI.mil platform signalled “a giant step toward mass AI adoption across the department.  This tool marks the beginning of a new era, where every member of our workforce can be more efficient and impactful.”

In his January memorandum to the various leaders of the military community, Hegseth barked about the need for the US military to “build on its lead over our adversaries in integrating this technology, established during President Trump’s first term, to make our Warfighters more lethal and efficient.”  To do so would involve the Pentagon’s acceleration of US “Military Ai dominance by becoming an ‘AI-first’ warfighting force across all components, from front to back.”  (Why not sideways, above and below?)

Trouble, however, arose when Anthropic placed restrictions on the use of Claude and its products for conducting mass surveillance of US........

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