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Amazon wants to question Trump over his role in the $10 billion DoD contract
It's no secret that Amazon was unhappy with the Pentagon's decision to award the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract to Microsoft. Now, Amazon wants to depose President Trump and six other officials, CNBC reports. The company hopes to question Trump about his involvement in the bidding process, including private conversations, instructions given related to the award and "efforts to harm Amazon and AWS."
The Pentagon wants to catch rogue drones in nets
The Pentagon already has permission to shoot drones out of the sky if they're deemed a threat, but it's not stopping there. The Department of Defense (DoD) has signed a contract with Fortem Technologies for what the company calls Drone Hunter, an AI-enabled drone that can chase down, catch and retrieve rogue drones using a net.
Pentagon tells military personnel to avoid commercial DNA tests
The Pentagon has recently circulated a memo advising military personnel not to do at-home DNA tests, according to Yahoo News. It reportedly warned military members that mail-in commercial DNA tests are "largely unregulated and could expose personal and genetic information." They could also "potentially create unintended security consequences and increased risk to the joint force and mission," the memo read.
Amazon claims Trump's 'personal vendetta' cost it $10 billion Pentagon contract
Last month, Amazon said it would formally challenge the US Department of Defense's decision to award the $10 billion JEDI contract to Microsoft, instead of Amazon Web Service (AWS). The lawsuit, unsealed today, reveals the details behind Amazon's argument. The company claims that "AWS was the consensus frontrunner" and that not only was the Pentagon's decision based on "egregious errors on nearly every evaluation factor," it was "the result of improper pressure from President Donald J. Trump."
Jeff Bezos: US is in 'big trouble' if Big Tech rejects military contracts
Don't expect Amazon to follow companies like Google in changing its mind on military contracts. Jeff Bezos told guests at the Reagan National Defense Forum that the US is in "big trouble" if large tech companies are "turning their back" on the Defense Department. He further argued that Americans were "the good guys," and that it was imperative that the US maintained advantages over rivals in areas like spaceflight, where China appeared to be catching up.
Pentagon's draft AI ethics guidelines fight bias and rogue machines
Tech companies might have trouble establishing groundwork for the ethical use of AI, but the Defense Department appears to be moving forward. The Defense Innovation Board just published draft guidelines for AI ethics at the Defense Department that aim to keep the emerging technology in check. Some of them are more practical (such as demanding reliability) or have roots in years-old policies (demanding human responsibility at every stage), but others are relatively novel for both the public and private spheres.
The Trump Administration just revived the Cold War-era Space Command
Today, President Trump and Vice President Pence announced the return of the US Space Command -- a Cold War-era division of the Air Force that's been on a 17-year hiatus. The revival of the US Space Command is meant to "ensure the protection of America's interests in space," Defense Secretary Mark Esper said at a news conference Wednesday. But it could be confused with Space Force -- the sixth branch of the military that Trump hopes to create -- or the existing Air Force Space Command, which focuses on Air Force operations in space.
The Pentagon has a laser that identifies people by their heartbeat
Biometric identification has become part of everyday life. We've got facial recognition in airports, cars that can be unlocked just by looking at them, technology that detects a person's unique way of walking, and of course the ubiquitous fingerprint, used for everything from smart phones to event ticketing. Next on the agenda? Your heartbeat.
CIA 'Ninja bomb' replaces explosives with six long blades
The US apparently has a unique approach to minimizing bystander casualties from drone strikes: replace the warhead with old-fashioned knives. The Wall Street Journal has learned that both the CIA and the Pentagon have been using a variant of the Hellfire air-to-ground missile, the R9X (aka "Ninja bomb"), that deploys six blades moments before impact to cut through virtually anything in its path, including buildings and cars. The idea is to take out a terrorist leader or a similarly prominent target without risking the lives of nearby civilians.
Microsoft and Amazon will fight for the Pentagon's $10B cloud contract
Amazon and Microsoft are the two final companies in the running for the Defense Department's $10 billion cloud computing contract. The Pentagon's migration to the cloud, known as the JEDI project, was announced in 2017, with some of the biggest companies in the world competing for the prize ever since (although Google sat it out, citing "AI principles").
Palmer Luckey's firm wins Pentagon drone AI contract
Google may have backed out of the US military's Project Maven, but that doesn't mean other tech companies are unwilling to participate. The Intercept has learned that Oculus Rift co-founder Palmer Luckey's defense company, Anduril, won a contract to support the drone AI initiative in 2018. The firm will also support the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, according to newly obtained documents. While there aren't specifics around what that contract would entail, Project Maven relies on machine learning to detect people in drone videos and provide more effective intelligence data.
Elon Musk's toke could cost him his Pentagon security clearance
Recreational marijuana use may be legal in ten states, but those in the corridors of power aren't keen on top-level CEOs lighting up in public. After getting heat from NASA, Elon Musk -- who took a drag on Joe Rogan's podcast in September -- could now be in hot water with the Pentagon, too. An anonymous US official has told Bloomberg that Musk's federal security clearance is currently under review thanks to that toke. The SpaceX CEO has secret-level access because of his leadership role at the private aerospace company, which has continued to secure military contracts (including a recent deal worth $297 million for three future launches of US defence payloads) after that now-infamous incident. The same official said Musk had refiled his SF-86 security form requiring him to come clean about any illegal drug use over the past seven years. Over 20 million viewers watched him smoke on a YouTube video of Rogan's podcast, so it's not like Musk can lie. The fact is, as Bloomberg points out, marijuana use remains a federal crime. SpaceX has declined to comment on the fiasco and Musk's more likely to share his thoughts on Twitter.
The US ballistic missile system is a cybersecurity nightmare
The US Department of Defense Inspector General has recently taken a close look at the country's Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) and found its cybersecurity measures lacking in many, many aspects. In the report (PDF) published in April and unearthed by ZDNet, the Inspector General detailed the flaws it found in five random locations where the Missile Defense Agency installed ballistic missiles as part of the program. One of the most common issues it came across was lax enforcement when it comes to multi-factor authentication.
Pentagon preps cyberattack in case Russia interferes with elections
There may not be any immediate evidence of Russia directly meddling with the US midterm elections, but the Department of Defense is apparently ready to strike back if it happens. Anonymous officials talking to the Center for Public Integrity and the Daily Beast say the Pentagon and intelligence agencies have agreed on the core terms of a retaliatory cyberattack in the event Russia tries a bold move. The exact nature of the attack is unsurprisingly a secret, but hackers have reportedly received authority to breach key Russian systems in advance to make sure any attack moves quickly.
After Math: Every robot was parkour fighting
What a week it's been! Between Google's Pixel 3 event, the lucky landing by the Soyuz crew, and Facebook's latest data breach, it feels like we almost didn't have time to talk about Waymo's self-driving cars, Amazon's new line of picker bots and Boston Dynamic's gymnastic droids. But that's where the After Math comes in.
Pentagon data breach compromises up to 30,000 workers
The Pentagon still has to grapple with data security woes despite efforts to harden its sites and networks. Defense Department officials have revealed that a travel record data breach at an unnamed contractor exposed the personal info of military and civilian staffers, including credit cards. An AP source said that this didn't compromise classified material, but it affected "as many as" 30,000 workers. There's a chance that number might get larger, according to the source.
Report: US weapons systems are highly vulnerable to cyber attacks
The Department of Defense will have to ramp up its cybersecurity efforts now that it's planning to spend $1.66 trillion to develop major weapons systems. According to a new report (PDF) by the Government Accountability Office, nearly all of Pentagon's weapons systems are vulnerable to cyberattacks. The DoD, the report reads, didn't make cybersecurity a priority, even though GAO has been warning it for decades about the risks it's taking by not making sure its systems are properly protected. That leaves the nation's weapons, such missiles and drones, susceptible to attacks meant to take over their controls.
Google sits out $10 billion Pentagon cloud contest over AI principles
Google has dropped out of a competition that could've won the company a $10 billion contract with the Pentagon. The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud (JEDI) contest's purpose is to find a solution for the military to transfer massive amounts of data and processing power to the cloud. It believes that by doing so, it can give military officials quick access to data wherever they are, allowing them to make quicker and better decisions while on the battlefield. A spokesperson told Bloomberg that it's no longer bidding on the JEDI contract, because the tech giant couldn't be assured that its terms would align with its AI Principles.
Pentagon pledges $2 billion for AI research
The US Department of Defense will put up to $2 billion towards artificial intelligence research over the next five years, the Washington Post reports. Steven Walker, director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), announced the plan today at a symposium outside of Washington, DC. He said the agency wants to look into "how machines can acquire human-like communication and reasoning capabilities" and will fund dozens of new research projects going forward.
Vice President Pence lays out plan to create Space Force
Vice President Mike Pence has detailed a plan to establish Space Force as a new military branch. In a Pentagon speech, he laid out proposals to form a US Space Command (as was previously reported) that would focus on defending space. White House officials aim to establish Space Command by the end of the year and have a four-star general in place to lead it.
