More AI tools coming in days or weeks, Pentagon R&D chief says

Defense Undersecretary (Research & Engineering) Emil Michael, right, briefs Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the XQ-58A Valkyrie drone at the Pentagon on July 16, 2025. Win McNamee/Getty Images

Updated Dec. 9, 10 a.m. ET:

The Pentagon will widely deploy new AI tools for logistics, intelligence analysis, and combat planning in days or weeks, its research-and-engineering chief said Monday, adding that wide deployment of artificial intelligence now tops his list of “critical technologies.”

The department has chosen Gemini for Government as the platform that will support DOD’s first department-wide rollout of AI tools, Google and defense officials announced Tuesday morning.

The moves come after the Defense Innovation Unit, the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, or CDAO, and others were combined under Emil Michael, defense undersecretary for research and engineering, in a bid to accelerate deployment of AI and other technologies. He said that he will likely reduce ...