How artificial intelligence is reshaping modern warfare

Modern warfare is changing rapidly, and harnessing artificial intelligence is key to staying ahead of America’s adversaries. 

Software companies including Govini and Palantir are behind the production and modernization of today's most high-tech weapon systems. Both companies were at the second annual AI Expo for National Competitiveness in Washington to showcase their work to the nation’s top military brass. Fox News saw first-hand this cutting-edge technology and had an exclusive interview with Palantir's CEO and co-founder Alex Karp, whose software is being used in Ukraine and the Middle East.

"The way to prevent a war with China is to ramp up not just Palantir, but defense tech startups that produce software-defining weapons systems that scare the living F out of our adversaries," Karp said. Karp emphasized either the U.S. will win the race for AI, or Russia and China will.

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Fear that AI could lead to killer robots and take humans out of the so-called "kill chain" has led to anxiety and threats of regulation that worries American innovators. But the U.S. has been ahead of its adversaries in artificial intelligence, and Karp said he wanted to keep it that way to deter any wrongdoing.

"Our adversaries have a long tradition of being not interested in the rule of law, not interested in fairness, not interested in human rights and on the battlefield. It really is going to be us or them. … You do not want a world order where our adversaries try to define new norms. It would be very bad for the world, and it would be especially bad for America," Karp explained.

Software companies are showing off their AI tools to America's top military officials. (iStock, animation)

Fox News had the opportunity to look at some of the latest cutting-edge technology. Mixed Reality Command and Control goggles allow the war fighter to see the battlefield, available air assets, enemy targets and supply routes in 3D.

Former intelligence analyst Shannon Clark, who has since led research and development for Palantir, said this targeting technology would have helped shorten the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, possibly leading to different outcomes. Clark guided Fox News through four different demonstrations showing how the different technology worked and how U.S. generals could use it to make critical decisions in real time.

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"It's about speed. What was able to be done in days or weeks is now done in minutes," Clark said.

As drone swarms have become more prominent in modern warfare, knowing exactly what weapons the U.S. had in its stockpiles would be critical to defending U.S. interests across the globe.  

"I had a general say to me the other day, 'It doesn't matter if I have 50 targets. I need to know what ammo I have available,'" Clark said.

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Maverick is an AI-generated target effector. Clark explained how it worked: "Here's your list of targets. Here's the priority with which you want to action those targets. And, then, here's the effect that you should use in order to take action on that target."

Software companies have been following Palantir’s lead.

At the AI summit, software company Govini showed how its Ark software could map all the potential supply chain issues for the Defense Department, from forecasting demand to finding hidden dependence on adversary nations.

Something like this will clearly be needed in the Pacific.

"When we think about the Indo-Pacific in particular, we talk a lot about the scale, and analysts say it’s going to be all about scale. You are not going to be able to do this alone," Clark added.

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One demonstration showed an intelligence tip from South Korea and how Palantir software could be used to find a nefarious cargo ship hiding in busy sea lanes. The AI software would take an intelligence tip from a U.S. ally and then show the route of a certain ship flagged that may be carrying nefarious cargo. Thanks to AI, the intelligence tip could lead quickly to targeting an enemy ship in the Pacific.

Clark said humans are still the key decision-makers with this new technology. 

"We're just compressing everything up to that, to that point to do it faster, to do it more efficiently and to do it at a scale where they are going to be able to make those decisions," Clark said. 

The Pentagon is seeing how this AI-enabled software is making even older weapons more lethal, accurate and efficient. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. C.Q. Brown Jr. attended the summit and emphasized the importance of staying ahead of U.S. adversaries such as China and Russia in artificial intelligence.

"I don't play for second place. If I'm in, I'm putting my best foot forward to make sure we are going to win," Brown said.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. C.Q. Brown at the Pentagon in November 2023. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

Capitol Hill is catching on to how AI can help in more than just defense. A bipartisan group of senators, led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced a 33-page report Wednesday urging Congress to spend $32 billion over the next three years on AI.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., emphasized AI could be used for more than just U.S. weapons systems, but also to improve technology to treat cancer and chronic illness. The bipartisan group of senators recommended that Congress draft emergency legislation for AI for new research, testing standards and to boost U.S. investment. 

This report was the first major road map for a long-term plan to harness artificial intelligence from Congress. 

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Karp addressed the concerns of harnessing AI. 

"We have to dominate and then set a rule of law to contain development. But, first, you have to actually dominate, which is what we did, in the World War II period with nuclear warheads," Karp said.

"What we have to do as Americans is get these technologies into our DOD warfighting systems as quickly as possible ... and then show on the battlefield things that no one else can do."