CENTCOM announces US-UAE task force on AI

WASHINGTON — This morning US Central Command announced the imminent stand-up of a joint US-UAE task force to advance AI in the two allies’ militaries.

Grandly named “Task Force Talon Synapse,” the effort is set to launch “in the coming weeks,” according to the CENTCOM release. The team will be based in the United Arab Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi and “will consist of approximately 20 American and Emirati personnel with expertise in AI, data, and cybersecurity.”

Talon Synapse will be “the first bilateral task force focused on accelerating the development of military artificial intelligence,” the CENTCOM statement says, with a particular focus on “AI applications for intelligence support, protecting critical infrastructure, and monitoring the regional security environment.”

The release also quotes CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper as calling the project “a historic milestone” and the UAE “one of our most capable regional partners.” The CENTCOM statement says the task force grew out of talks last year between. Cooper and a top UAE official, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

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Often called the “spy sheikh” for his central role in UAE intelligence, Tahnoon is the brother of the Emirati monarch and serves him as both national security advisor and “deputy ruler.” He’s invested billions of his personal fortune in AI and millions in a crypto company owned by Eric Trump, son of President Donald Trump, according to The Wall Street Journal.

As for the new task force, a former senior defense official said it “sounds good on paper, but it’s unclear what will really tangible will come out of a team of 20 people.”

“My biggest questions revolve around classified information sharing: what can be shared, at what classification level, and by whom?” the ex-official continued, on the condition of anonymity. “It will be great if the US gets access to Emirati data and intelligence that they otherwise might not have access to, but I’m not sure what the Emiratis gain in return.”

The US and UAE work closely together in matters of Gulf security, and the UAE even reportedly launched its own airstrikes against Iran earlier this year alongside the US-Israeli campaign. Under the Trump administration, the two countries have increased their collaboration on technology as well, over the objections of career officials who argue UAE’s ties to China raise the risk of a leak of US tech secrets.