Anduril founder Palmer Luckey says the US military already opened “Pandora’s box” of AI and autonomous weapons, and it’s too late to turn back.
During a TED Live event last week, Luckey said the United States should instead double down on developing AI-controlled weapons, otherwise China could outperform the United States in a future war fought with autonomous systems.
“I want you to imagine something,” Luckey told the crowd. “In the early hours of a massive surprise invasion of Taiwan, China unleashes its full arsenal. Ballistic missiles rain down on key military installations, neutralizing air bases, and command centers before Taiwan could fire a single shot.”
Luckey said that in this scenario, it would “become clear” that the United States does not have the systems to respond quickly enough to fend off China.
“This is the war US military analysts fear most, not just because of outdated technology or slow decision-making, but because our lack of capacity, our sheer shortage of tools and platforms means we can’t even get into the fight,” Luckey said.
He said the best way to compete with China is to win the AI arms race.
Luckey founded Oculus, which he later sold to Meta for $2 billion. Then, in 2017, Luckey founded the defense company Anduril, which produces and manufactures drones and other autonomous systems and weapons for the US military.
“I’ll get confronted by journalists who say, ‘Oh, well, you know, we shouldn’t open Pandora’s box,'” Luckey said. “And my point to them is that Pandora’s box was opened a long time ago with anti-radiation missiles that seek out surface air missile launchers.”
He added that some US military ships use anti-missile defense systems capable of “locking on and firing on targets totally autonomously.”
“We’ve been in this world of systems that act out our will autonomously for decades,” he said. “And so the point I would make to people is that you’re not asking to not open Pandora’s box; you’re asking to shove it back in and close it again.”
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