Under Secretary of Defense Emil Michael describes recent transaction activity by the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital.
Opinion
Michael: Boston Dynamics made less AI progress than Tesla Optimus
“Which is why Boston Dynamics didn't make as much progress as Optimist did in the AI. You know, the things that started later on robotics just worked better because they were more AI infused.”
Prediction Open · timeframe Jan 2036
Michael: Autonomous systems could consume 30% of defense budget within 10 years
“So, you know, in 10 years, it wouldn't surprise me if 20, 30% of the budget is, is, is spent on those kinds of systems.”
Disclosure
Michael: DoD Deployed DOGE Recruits to Build Defense AI Initiatives
“The talent they brought into every department could then be deployed on other projects like the AI action plan that we did with Gen AI. So, because they were already, like, Elon chose technically sophisticated people. There weren't all engineers, some were law…”
Opinion
Michael: US defense industrial base was unready for recent conflicts
“Defense industrial base sort of wasn't ready to provide what's necessary for the threat environment. And if you think about threat environment, what we've done in Iran, what we've done in Venezuela what we've done with the Houthis, like all just in one year, r…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Michael: China's military buildup is the largest in world history
“The buildup, the military buildup in China is the biggest military buildup in world history.”
Assertion Contradicted
Michael: SpaceX, Anduril, and Palantir all sued the Pentagon for first contracts
“SpaceX and Anderil and Palantir all had to sue the Department of War for their first contract.”