DARPA boss says the US is using AI in 70% of its programs, AI-powered F16 fighter jets tested

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has announced its developing artificial intelligence (AI) that is "trustworthy for the Defense Department" in making life-or-death recommendations to warfighters, said Matt Turek, deputy director of DARPA's Information Innovation Office.

At the Center for Strategic and International Studies event, Turek said that AI, machine learning, and autonomy are being used in "about 70%" of DARPA's programs in "some form or another." The push into the arms of advanced AI development is such a priority to "prevent an unexpected breakthrough in technology" or a "strategic surprise" by enemies that could be (probably) developing advanced AI capabilities.

DARPA is looking for "transformative capabilities and ideas from industry and academia," according to Turek; with DARPA getting these capabilities and ideas to various challenges teams from the private sector can win millions of dollars in prizes. DARPA recently held the Artificial Intelligence Cyber Challenge, using generative AI technologies including large language models (LLMs) to automatically discover and fix vulnerabilities in open-source software, some of which is used as critical infrastructure in the United States.

LLMs involve processing and manipulating human language to perform tasks such as secure computer coding, decision-making, speech recognition, and predicting future attacks.Turek said that the unique feature of this challenge is the partnership between DARPA and the best in the LLM business that are working with DARPA in these challenges. These companies include Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic.

Turek said that LLMs won't just benefit the Defense Department, but also the commercial sector. On the defense side of things, DARPA has been using autonomy and AI on tests with the Air Force using their F-16 fighters jets.