Upgrade | Hegseth: Musk should research the “future of warfare.”

Elon Musk, controversial tech billionaire, will work closely with the Pentagon in the future. Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AP/dpa Washington. Tech billionaire Elon Musk is supposed to help shape US warfare of the future - and this also involves autonomous weapons. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced a research project to be co-led by Musk and drone entrepreneur Palmer Luckey. The Pentagon chief expects results within 120 days.

The prospect of independently operating weapon systems with artificial intelligence recently came into greater public focus due to a dispute between the Pentagon and the AI ​​company Anthropic. Anthropic refused to allow the Defense Department to use its technology in autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of Americans. The Pentagon, on the other hand, insists on the right to any legal use of AI. Hegseth had Anthropic declared a supply chain risk because of the dispute.

Musk also has AI developed at his space company Space X. However, the software called Grok is so far behind Anthropic and the Chatgpt developer Opern Ai in terms of capabilities.

At the same time, Musk is increasing the production of humanoid robots at the car manufacturer Tesla, which he leads. He keeps proclaiming that the robots called Optimus will be the greatest product of all time. According to a report on the website “The Information,” Tesla recently built several hundred robots per week. By the end of the year, the aim is to produce more than 1,000 robots per week. At the same time, there are currently problems with the construction of the complex mechanical hands, it said, citing informed people. AI-controlled robot soldiers have been a feared vision for the future of warfare for years.

The purpose of the project co-led by Musk is to "look at the future with a creative eye and identify areas we need to conquer and the skills we need to master," said Hegseth. dpa/nd

This article cost you nothing. We do: for research, printing and technology. We saved on office rent as well as printing and distribution. And we gave up salary. Nevertheless, the calculation doesn't work without you. We need 300,000 euros by the end of the year. You pay what you can, in return we keep writing.

No paywall, no small print, just one goal: that nd stays.