Joint AI Center hosts first-ever AI Partnership for Defense with 12 other nations

The Pentagon’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) hosts the first-ever AI Partnership for Defense with 12 other nations, with hopes that more countries will join in the future.

“Over the coming year, we expect to expand this initiative to include even more countries as we create new frameworks and tools for data sharing, cooperative development, and strengthened interoperability” — Secretary of Defense Mark Esper

Following US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper’s announcement at the Department of Defense AI Symposium last week, the first-ever AI Partnership for Defense ran from September 15-16 with military and defense organizations from a total of 13 countries.

The 13 delegations came from the following countries:

• Australia
• Canada
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Israel
• Japan
• Norway
• The Republic of Korea
• Sweden
• The United Kingdom
• The United States of America

Delivering the keynote at the virtual DoD AI Symposium last week, Secretary of Defense Esper announced that the AI Partnership for Defense was an effort to promote ethical AI use among allies and partners.

“The JAIC will launch the first-ever AI Partnership for Defense to engage military and defense organizations from more than 10 nations with a focus on incorporating ethical principles into the AI delivery pipeline,” Esper said.

“Over the coming year, we expect to expand this initiative to include even more countries as we create new frameworks and tools for data sharing, cooperative development, and strengthened interoperability,” he added.

The AI Partnership for Defense is also a response to the growing and ever-present threat of the Chinese Communist Party’s authoritarian use of AI that has created a surveillance state within its own borders while seeking to export its Orwellian capabilities to autocratic governments around the world.

“Moscow and Beijing have turned a once peaceful arena into a war fighting domain. They have weaponized space through killer satellites, directed energy weapons, and more in an effort to exploit our systems and chip away at our military advantage” — Secretary of Defense Esper

“The contrast between American leadership on AI and that of Beijing and Moscow couldn’t be clearer — we are pioneering a vision for emerging technology that protects the US Constitution and the sacred rights of all Americans,” Esper declared.

“Abroad, we seek to promote the adoption of AI in a manner consistent with the values we share with our allies and partners — individual liberty, democracy, human rights, and respect for the rule of law — just to name a few.”

The JAIC is laying the groundwork to have AI and machine learning systems permeating every area of the Pentagon — “From the back office to the battlefield, from under sea to cyberspace and outer space, and all points in between,” according to the JAIC’s Inaugural Director Lieutenant General Jack Shanahan, who recently retired.

Speaking at the Air Force Association’s Virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference on Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Esper stated, “China and Russia, seek to erode our longstanding dominance in air power through long-range fires, anti-access/area-denial systems and other asymmetric capabilities designed to counter our strengths.

“In space, Moscow and Beijing have turned a once peaceful arena into a war fighting domain. They have weaponized space through killer satellites, directed energy weapons, and more in an effort to exploit our systems and chip away at our military advantage,” he added.