Elon Musk joins U.S. defense task force on future warfare
Elon Musk has been appointed to co-lead a 120-day Department of Defense project to examine emerging technologies for future battlefields, alongside Anduril CEO Palmer Luckey and former House speaker Newt Gingrich.
The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that SpaceX founder Elon Musk will co-lead a new initiative, Project Meridian, to assess technologies that could shape future combat environments. Musk will work with Anduril Industries CEO Palmer Luckey and former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich.
The 120-day effort aims to produce an unclassified report outlining the capabilities needed for the United States to maintain technological superiority on next-generation battlefields, including subterranean and lunar domains.
"We are witnessing rapid advances in artificial intelligence, autonomy, directed energy, robotics, biotechnology, among other critical high-tech areas. Combined, these new domains, new ways of fighting, and technological developments will profoundly alter the character of warfare," Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth wrote in a memo. "To maintain global dominance, the United States must anticipate future operational environments and act decisively to develop the tools to dominate in them."
Both Musk and Luckey have existing contracts with the defense department; Anduril’s business focuses on supplying the military with advanced warfare systems.