History
JAIC was originally proposed to Congress on June 27, 2018; [7] that same month, it was established under the Defense Department's Chief Information Officer (CIO), itself subordinate to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), to coordinate Department-wide AI efforts. [1] Throughout 2020, JAIC started financially engaging with the AI industry for the development of specific applications. [8] [9] [10]
Current proposals for JAIC include giving it the authority as a financial entity to acquire its own technology, and elevating its position to be under the Deputy Secretary of Defense. [11] [12] [13]
On 24 June 2021 the Department of Defense gathered reporters for an AI symposium in which it announced the launch of an "AI and data accelerator (ADA) initiative" in which, over the month of July, data teams would work directly with military personnel to provide a proof of concept in data-driven warfare and to observe the possible obstacles for such implementation. [14] [15]
On 1 June 2022 JAIC, the Defense Digital Service, and the Office of Advancing Analytics were fully merged into a unified organization, the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer (CDAO). [16] JAIC, DDS, and the other groups within CDAO will cease to be recognized as entities. [17] [18]
Successor
Note: as more information becomes available, this section may be split off
The Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) [19] or Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer [18] [17] is Dr. Craig Martell. [20] [21] [22] [23] USAF secretary Frank Kendall has signalled that the CDAO will have an approach to solving the DoD-wide Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) problem: "Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks has already asked Martell to take a leading role in the discussions about JADC2". [24] [25] Martell's approach is bottom-up starting with each agency, working one-by-one, preserving what is important for each agency. [26] [27] However connectivity between Nodes is currently the critical resource for JADC2. [28]
On 30 January 2023 the CDAO announced a series of global information dominance experiments (GIDEs). [29] [lower-alpha 1] GIDE 5 is being held 30 January — 3 February 2023 (Monday—Thursday) at the Pentagon, and at multiple combatant commands (and therefore across the global information grid for JADC2). The experiment is twofold: 1) "to identify where we may have barriers in policy, security, connectivity, user-interface, or other areas that prohibit data sharing across the Joint force"; and 2) "to show how data, analytics, and AI can improve Joint workflows in a variety of missions from global integrated deterrence through targeting and fires". [29]
GIDE 6 was held from June 5 to July 26, 2023, with allies and partners, to exercise Combined Joint All-domain command and control (CJADC2). [32]
In GIDE 7, and in GIDE 8 more elements of the kill chains were exercised. [33] In GIDE 9, which is aligned with Project Convergence C4 (2024), Combined JADC2 is almost ready for deployment, pending Congressional approval of FY2024 funding. [33] [34]
Reaction to large language models
Dr. Martell has expressed apprehension over the large language models of AI such as ChatGPT. [35]
US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall notes that AI tools to aid decision-making will likely find application. [36] However the US will apply ethical constraints. [36]
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), known as the Defense Communications Agency (DCA) until 1991, is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) combat support agency composed of military, federal civilians, and contractors. DISA provides information technology (IT) and communications support to the President, Vice President, Secretary of Defense, the military services, the combatant commands, and any individual or system contributing to the defense of the United States.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the National Security Council on military matters. The composition of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is defined by statute and consists of a chairman (CJCS), a vice chairman (VJCS), the chiefs of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the chief of the National Guard Bureau. Each of the individual service chiefs, outside their JCS obligations, works directly under the secretaries of their respective military departments, e.g. the secretary of the Army, the secretary of the Navy, and the secretary of the Air Force.
ISTAR stands for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance. In its macroscopic sense, ISTAR is a practice that links several battlefield functions together to assist a combat force in employing its sensors and managing the information they gather.
The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks & Information Integration (ASD(NII)) was an appointed position that provided management and oversight of all DoD information technology, including national security systems. The ASD(NII) also served as the chief information officer (CIO) of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), a position distinct from the ASD and governed by the Clinger-Cohen Act.
The United States Department of Defense is an executive branch department of the federal government of the United States charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the U.S. government directly related to national security and the United States Armed Forces. As of June 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense is the largest employer in the world, with over 1.34 million active-duty service members, including soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen, and guardians. The Department of Defense also maintains over 778,000 National Guard and reservists, and over 747,000 civilians bringing the total to over 2.87 million employees. Headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., the Department of Defense's stated mission is to provide "the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security".
A program executive officer, or PEO, is one of a few key individuals in the United States military acquisition process. As can be seen from the examples below, a program executive officer may be responsible for a specific program, or for an entire portfolio of similar programs.
United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). It unifies the direction of cyberspace operations, strengthens DoD cyberspace capabilities, and integrates and bolsters DoD's cyber expertise which focus on securing cyberspace.
Robert Orton Work is an American national security professional who served as the 32nd United States Deputy Secretary of Defense for both the Obama and Trump administrations from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that, Work was the United States Under Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2013, and before that served as a colonel in the United States Marine Corps; Work retired in 2001 and worked as a civilian at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) and the George Washington University in various positions relating to military and strategic study. From 2013 to 2014, he was the CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). After his time as Deputy Secretary of Defense, he went on to serve on the board of Raytheon. As of October 2023, he serves on the Special Competitive Studies Project's board of advisors.
The Defense Clandestine Service (DCS) is an arm of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), which conducts clandestine espionage, intelligence gathering activities and classified operations around the world to provide insights and answer national-level defense objectives for senior U.S. policymakers and American military leaders. Staffed by civilian and military personnel, DCS is part of DIA's Directorate of Operations and works in conjunction with the Central Intelligence Agency's Directorate of Operations and the U.S. military's Joint Special Operations Command. DCS consists of about 500 clandestine operatives, which is roughly how many case officers the CIA maintained in the early 2000s prior to its expansion.
The Joint Information Environment (JIE) is a single, joint, secure, reliable and agile command, control, communications and computing enterprise information environment to which the Department of Defense (DoD) is transitioning in a first-phase implementation that spans fiscal years 2013 and 2014.
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) organization founded to help the U.S. military make faster use of emerging commercial technologies. Launched in 2015, the organization has been called "the Pentagon's Innovation Experiment". DIU is staffed by civilian and both active duty and reserve military personnel. The organization is headquartered in Mountain View, California — Silicon Valley — with offices in Austin, Boston, Chicago, and the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C.
The transformation of the United States Army is part of a strategy using Multi-Domain Operations (MDO). In 2019, the planning was for Large Scale ground Combat Operations at echelons above the brigade combat team. Multi-Domain Task Forces operate in a combatant commander's theater.
A military artificial intelligence arms race is an arms race between two or more states to develop and deploy lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS). Since the mid-2010s, many analysts have noted the emergence of such an arms race between global superpowers for better military AI, driven by increasing geopolitical and military tensions. An AI arms race is sometimes placed in the context of an AI Cold War between the US and China.
The chief management officer (CMO) of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) was the third-in-command of the department after the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense. The position's purpose was to reduce costs by improving the quality and productivity of DoD's business operations. Congress disestablished the CMO position with the passage of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 effective 1 January 2021.
The United States Army Futures Command (AFC) is a United States Army command that runs modernization projects. It is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
Michael S. Groen is a retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant general who last served as the Commander of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center. Previously, he was the Deputy Chief of Computer Network Operations of the National Security Agency.
The Space Development Agency (SDA) is a United States Space Force direct-reporting unit tasked with deploying disruptive space technology. A primary focus is space-based missile defense using large global satellite constellations made up of industry-procured low-cost satellites. The SDA has been managed by the United States Space Force since October 2022. By February 2024 the SDA had 33 satellites on orbit. SDA targets to have at least 1,000 satellites in low Earth orbit by 2026.
Shield AI is an American aerospace and defense technology company based in San Diego, California. It develops artificial intelligence-powered fighter pilots, drones, and technology for defense operations. Its clients include the United States Special Operations Command, US Air Force, US Marine Corps, US Navy and several international militaries.
Joint All-Domain Command and Control or JADC2 is the concept that the Department of Defense has developed to connect sensors from all branches of the armed forces into a § unified network powered by artificial intelligence. These branches include the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, and Navy, as well as Space Force.
The US Army's Integrated Tactical Network (ITN) "is not a new or separate network but rather a concept"—PEO C3T. Avoid overspecifying the requirements for Integrated Tactical Network Information Systems Initial Capabilities Document. Instead, meet operational needs, such as interoperability with other networks, and release ITN capabilities incrementally.
