Christopher Kirchhoff on Military Innovation and the Future of War | Conversations with Tyler

Christopher Kirchhoff is an expert in emerging technology who founded the Pentagon’s Silicon Valley office. He’s led teams for President Obama, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and CEO of Google. He’s worked in worlds as far apart as weapons development and philanthropy. His pioneering efforts to link Silicon Valley technology and startups to Washington has made him responsible for $70 billion in technology acquisition by the Department of Defense. He’s penned many landmark reports, and he is the author of Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley are Transforming the Future of War. Tyler and Christopher cover the ascendancy of drone warfare and how it will affect tactics both off and on the battlefield, the sobering prospect of hypersonic weapons and how they will shift the balance of power, EMP attacks, AI as the new arms race (and who's winning), the completely different technology ecosystem of an iPhone vs. an F-35, why we shouldn't nationalize AI labs, the problem with security clearances, why the major defense contractors lost their dynamism, how to overcome the “Valley of Death” in defense acquisition, the lack of executive authority in government, how Unit X began, the most effective type of government commission, what he'll learn next, and more. Recorded July 23rd, 2024 Transcript and links: https://conversationswithtyler.com/ep... Stay connected: Follow us on X, IG, and Facebook: @cowenconvos   / cowenconvos     / cowenconvos     / cowenconvos   Join us on Discord:   / discord   https://conversationswithtyler.com https://mercatus.org Chapters 00:00 - On drone warfare 11:55 - On hypersonic weapons 14:34 - On AI as an arms race 32:43 - On security clearances 36:10 - On accountability and bureaucracy 44:14 - On Unit X 50:17 - On military office norms