AI Warfare? Pentagon’s Thunderforge Aims to Transform Military Planning

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), a division within the Department of Defense, awarded a prototype contract to Scale AI, a company based in San Francisco. The contract focuses on developing an AI-powered platform, Thunderforge.

Initially, Thunderforge will be used by two military divisions: the US Indo-Pacific Command, which covers the Pacific and Indian Oceans along with parts of Asia, and the US European Command, responsible for operations across Europe, parts of the Middle East, the Arctic, and the Atlantic Ocean.

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The AI system will assist with planning, resource allocation, and evaluating strategic options in these regions.

The DIU described the system as a tool to bring AI-driven automation and analysis into military operations. Bryce Goodman, who leads the Thunderforge program at DIU, emphasized this point, stating that it will help decision-makers keep pace with fast-changing conflicts.

For the Thunderforge project, Scale AI will collaborate with Microsoft, Google, and Anduril Industries.

Additionally, Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang stated on X, "[Thunderforge] will be the flagship program within the DoD for AI-based military planning and operations".

Recently, AI experts Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton expressed concerns about the development and release of AI without sufficient safety measures. What did they say? Read the full story.