The Pentagon is counting on the private sector to lead an artificial intelligence transformation rather than the federal government, according to Defense Department AI chief Radha Plumb.
Ms. Plumb said the Pentagon’s approach to AI is dependent upon tech entrepreneurs’ innovation outside of government environments to help the U.S. jockey for the top spot of global AI leader.
“The pointy end of the spear on this AI technology development is coming from private companies, often with commercial or dual-use cases in mind,” Ms. Plumb, the Defense Department’s point woman on AI matters, told the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Analysts evaluating America’s AI sector compared to foreign nations must not focus singularly on government spending and ignore the U.S. private sector’s investments in new and emerging technologies, Ms. Plumb said this week.
“Federal government investment is great and I absolutely, I absolutely support it both in the R&D and at the procurement stage, but it really pales in comparison to the private capital investment that exists into digital technologies broadly and AI companies specifically,” she said.
Ms. Plumb, who took the helm of the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office in April, said her department’s role is better understood as helping to accelerate new technology’s adoption.
She told CSIS that the Department of Defense is working to ensure data is ready and usable for AI applications, that the government has necessary test and evaluation and risk management processes, and that government acquisition pathways exist.
Ms. Plumb’s praise for business successes does not mean she favors less government spending on tech, however.
She told CSIS her office is focused on speed or “making targeted investments to help accelerate capabilities to, I’ll call it, prove out the case or help solve critical gaps in a time-sensitive way.”
Ms. Plumb’s vision stands in contrast to policymakers who fret the spending of U.S. taxpayer dollars on AI trailing government spending by rival governments, China in particular.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer unveiled an AI road map for new governmental policy in May accompanied with a minimum price tag of $32 billion.
The New York Democrat told an AI expo in Washington that the Chinese government’s spending on AI technology was cause for concern.
“If we don’t do anything China could get ahead of us, they’re spending much more money right now on investing in science and AI than we are,” Mr. Schumer said at the time. “Now, make no mistake about it, Americans, person for person and dollar for dollar, we’re a lot better because of the great innovative qualities in our society and because we have so many immigrants come to this country with great ideas. But if we do nothing, … [China] could get ahead of us.”
A major legislative package focused on AI appears unlikely to move through Congress before Election Day but the debate over AI policy and government spending will continue into 2025.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.