AI in Defense Weekly (10/23/25)
As artificial intelligence moves from experimentation to execution, the defense world is entering its most consequential reorganization since the dawn of the information age. Algorithms now plan logistics, recommend promotions, simulate combat, and harden networks—all while reshaping command itself. This week’s stories trace the edges of that transformation: from generals working alongside decision-support systems to nations retooling their industrial bases around AI warfare. Beneath the headlines, one question looms large: who—or what—commands the future fight?
The Command Revolution
Generals and algorithms learn to co-command the battlefield.
Military leadership faces its most fundamental transformation since the telegraph replaced mounted couriers. As artificial intelligence moves from advisory roles to active decision-making, we witness the emergence of hybrid command structures where algorithms and generals collaborate in real-time. The implications extend beyond efficiency gains. We’re watching the birth of an entirely new doctrine of war.
Strategic Decision-Making
Top Army official using ChatGPT to make military decisions | NewsNation. We covered this last week, but want to again highlight that AI is working its way into the highest levels of decision-making.
Personnel & Advancement
Army Brings AI Into Promotion Boards | RealClearDefense
Army HR develops internal AI chatbot for human resources | FederalNewsNetwork.
The Global Chessboard
AI adoption becomes the new metric of state power.
The integration of AI into military systems has become the decisive metric of national power. From Seoul’s unmanned weapons systems to Ukraine’s battlefield laboratories, nations race to operationalize artificial intelligence before their adversaries do. This week’s developments underscore a troubling reality: the gap between AI capabilities and governance frameworks continues to widen.
Can’t emphasize this enough: as fast as the DOW feels it’s embracing AI, the rest of world is running just as hard.
International Developments
South Korea kicks off arms fair to showcase unmanned, AI weapons | Reuters | Reuters
Why Ukraine and Estonia are embracing government by AI - Defense One | Defense One
Army Southern European Task Force, Africa turns to AI for wargaming | DefenseNews
Is the World in an AI Arms Race? The National Interest
What US military’s AI-powered super soldiers could mean for adversaries | Interesting Engineering.
Cyber & Security
Microsoft: Russia, China Increasingly Using AI to Escalate Cyberattacks on the US | Military.com
Army Counterintelligence Races to Modernize, Integrate AI | GovCIO Media & Research
Essential Analysis
Strategic Perspectives
Humans are for edge cases | Legion’s own Brian Lampert offers a sobering examination of human roles in automated systems.
Getting beyond innovation theater | Critical analysis of genuine versus performative military modernization. Really good reality check for start-up founders and teams.
Technology Deep Dives
The rise of X-Bat | TWZ. Shield AI unveiled X‑BAT, a jet‑powered VTOL “autonomous fighter” concept aimed at runway independence and multi‑role missions, with demo goals next year for VTOL and full flights later.
AWS cloud outage and the long tail | Wired. Infrastructure vulnerabilities in an AI-dependent military. More on this in the coming week.
Infrastructure & Implementation
Compute is the new steel; data centers are the new bases.
The physical architecture of AI warfare emerges through data centers on military bases and classified computing clusters. These developments represent the unglamorous but essential foundation for algorithmic warfare, the pipes and processors that will determine tactical advantage in future conflicts.
US Department of the Air Force accepting proposals for AI data centers in military bases | DataCenter Dynamics.
Military leaders prioritize AI tools to enhance capabilities | INDO-PACOM Defense Forum
Governance & Accountability
Governance will need to catch up but remain flexible.
As military AI capabilities accelerate, the frameworks for control and accountability struggle to keep pace. The fundamental questions persist about human oversight when decisions occur at machine speed and the ethical boundaries of autonomous systems.
We Should Ensure Accountability In The AI Military Sector – OpEd | Eurasia Review
Closing Thoughts: The AWS outage revealed how fragile even the most advanced AI architectures are when dependent on a single hyperscale spine. The DOD will have to further balance it’s desire to have “multi-everything redundancy” but tendency to “just choose a single option and save costs.” Cloud vs Edge vs Multi-vendors for compute, models, proprietary and open source. AI will make all these decisions more important and more challenging.