Erik Prince, the founder and former CEO of the military contractor Blackwater, recently spoke at a seminar at Hillsdale College titled "AI and the Future Battlefield." In his speech, he discussed the evolution of warfare, the impact of drones and AI, the changing dynamics of global power, and the importance of innovation—particularly in the private sector. He also praised Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.
"We don't have a monopoly in innovation, but we have a critical mass of it, and a lot of that still resides in the military," Prince, a 1992 Hillsdale College graduate and founder of Blackwater Worldwide, told students.
Prince said, "As long as DoD, just a little bit, opens the tap of money, redirecting from the nonsense, hyper-overpriced programs that they like to spend money on, we can certainly not just catch up but surpass any capability that we have to worry about with China."
So, less DoD funding for the military-industrial complex—such as legacy defense giants like Lockheed and Boeing, often seen as innovation killers—and more support for emerging startups like...
The magic of innovation: more startups = more competition ... who would've ever thought?
Prince discussed the impact of AI on warfare, starting with a historical comparison to Genghis Khan's innovation of placing stirrups on every soldier's horse, which revolutionized the speed and effectiveness of warfare.
Here's a summary of the key points of Prince's hour talk with students:
At 19:52, Prince emphasized the need for the private sector to drive innovation in defense, citing examples of government inefficiency.
"But that convergence of trying to bring market solutions into a truly Congress and a military-industrial complex that's run wild - the amount of spending and waste that occurred in Iraq and Afghanistan, as you're seeing now, with a DOGE effort. God bless Elon Musk for cutting it down across the board. I hope we have the same opportunity to do something similar in the Pentagon yeah, cheer for Elon... I have such respect for that guy. When he looks at spacecraft ... um he said look, we have to lower the cost of launch to get it to altitude by a thousandfold and he's well on his way to doing that," Prince said.
A continuation of the key points: