Today’s live was a sobering deep dive into the rapidly accelerating marriage between artificial intelligence and modern warfare. Joined by independent journalist Jonathan Ward, publisher of The Rip Current, we unpacked how AI systems from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Palantir Technologies are already embedded in U.S. military operations — including the current strikes on Iran.
We examined the explosive standoff between Anthropic and the Pentagon, after the company attempted to draw red lines around mass surveillance of Americans and autonomous killing. The Trump administration responded by banning the company from federal contracts — only for Sam Altman’s OpenAI to step into the breach. The backlash has been swift, with consumer cancellations and a public debate about whether tech CEOs — not Congress — are now setting the ethical boundaries of war.
Jonathan explained how AI is being used for target identification, surveillance pattern analysis, and battle simulation — dramatically reducing the friction, cost, and political risk traditionally associated with war. We also explored the rise of low-cost autonomous drones, essentially $35,000 “self-flying missiles,” and what it means when killing becomes cheap, scalable, and emotionally distant.
The central question: If this technology works perfectly, do we actually want the world it creates?
Hope, as always, requires friction — and accountability.
