Battlefield robots open new front in innovation war with major US adversary
FIRST ON FOX: The U.S. Army is teaming up with an artificial intelligence (AI) company to build an AI "brain" for military robots that can think, understand their surroundings and...
By Fox News · Fox News
FIRST ON FOX : The U.S. Army is teaming up with an artificial intelligence (AI) company to build an AI "brain" for military robots that can think, understand their surroundings and continue missions even after losing contact with human operators as the race for AI dominance intensifies. Working with the Army Research Laboratory, defense AI company EdgeRunner AI has developed an onboard AI system that allows military robots to function in the battlefield without relying on cloud computing or an internet connection in environments where connectivity is lost. "We like to think of robots as the next frontier of AI," EdgeRunner AI Founder and CEO Tyler Saltsman told Fox News Digital. "Think of them as a very far-out edge device, kind of like a cell phone, a tablet or a laptop. But now what we can do is we can put a brain, or a neural network, right on that robot so that robots can have context when they're on a mission helping the warfighter." CHINA IS BUILDING AN AI WAR MACHINE. WASHINGTON MUST WAKE UP BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE The partnership comes as the U.S. and China race to integrate AI into their militaries, with both countries viewing AI as critical to maintaining a technological edge in future conflicts. Saltsman said it's important for the U.S. to stay ahead in the global AI race, calling China's dominance in drone manufacturing "problematic." "Whether or not China's ahead of us is debatable, but if China is, it's not by much," he said. Saltsman said today's AI is "too generalized," which is why his company is developing technology built for specific military missions. "Warfighters don't need 19th-century poetry," he said. "They need specific intelligence to his or her occupation in order to make better decisions in the heat of battle and that can increase the probability of winning the fight." Working alongside aerial drones , the AI is designed to help robots "problem solve through different routes" while detecting explosives, carrying ammunition, scouting routes…