U.S. Government Urges Military to Accelerate Use of Artificial Intelligence

Reference News Network, June 8 According to a report by the Associated Press in Washington on June 5, U.S. President Trump issued a memorandum on the 5th, requiring the U.S. military and national security agencies to accelerate the use of artificial intelligence, while acknowledging the need to protect civil liberties and maintain oversight of autonomous weapon systems.

At the time of this memorandum's issuance, concerns about artificial intelligence in American society were growing. The Trump administration has been pushing for the U.S. military to harness the power of artificial intelligence, but some military leaders and Pentagon contractors have remained cautious, calling for regulatory boundaries for the application of artificial intelligence.

The memorandum was issued to most cabinet members in his administration, including the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security, as well as the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence.

Trump called for an update to the directives on autonomous weapon systems to adapt to the rapidly evolving capabilities of artificial intelligence. The memorandum instructs the Department of Defense to "ensure the conscious adoption of artificial intelligence systems that comply with the chain of command and operational command."

The memorandum also restricts the use of artificial intelligence to "review freedom of speech, embed ideological biases, or conduct illegal surveillance on the American people."

The memorandum states: "The use of artificial intelligence by national security agencies must always align with the principles of American civil liberties, as well as the constitutional and legal provisions protecting the privacy of American citizens."

In recent years, the U.S. Department of Defense has been accelerating the use of artificial intelligence. This technology can help reduce the time required to identify and strike targets, while also assisting in organizing routine tasks such as equipment maintenance, supply, and other logistics.

However, concerns about protecting civil liberties and how humans monitor autonomous weapon systems have garnered increasing attention. This year, the Department of Defense's efforts to enhance the military's artificial intelligence capabilities by leveraging domestic tech companies have sparked widespread controversy.

One of the tech companies, Anthropic, stated that it hopes to secure a commitment in contracts that the military will not use its technology for fully autonomous weapons or surveillance of Americans. Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth said the company must allow the military to use its technology for any purposes deemed legal by the Pentagon.

Trump had attempted to halt all federal agencies from using Anthropic's chatbot "Claude," and Hegseth also sought to designate the company as a supply chain risk entity. Subsequently, Anthropic filed a lawsuit.

During the conflict between Israel and armed groups in Gaza and Lebanon, concerns about the military use of artificial intelligence have arisen, with fears that American tech giants are secretly providing technological support to Israel for tracking targets. The rising civilian death toll in conflict areas like Gaza has further intensified worries, as these tools are also one of the causes of innocent civilian deaths.

U.S. Special Operations Command Commander Frank Bradley stated at the annual Special Forces conference that the troops "must be extremely cautious in how they apply (artificial intelligence) and how it is used in lethal strikes."

According to a report by the Financial Times on June 5, U.S. President Trump indicated that the U.S. government may acquire equity in artificial intelligence companies such as OpenAI to ensure that "the public benefits from it."

On the 5th, the President revealed to reporters that he had recently discussed an agreement with several major U.S. artificial intelligence companies, under which the federal government would "essentially become a partner of these companies."

Trump stated that large tech companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, and xAI would further discuss this proposal at the White House in the coming days. (Translated by Liu Zongya and Xu Yanhong)