The Pentagon taps Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey to help decide what the military should do next
The Pentagon taps Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey to help decide what the military should do next
五角大楼邀请埃隆·马斯克和帕尔默·拉奇共同规划美军未来发展方向
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a “State of the Force” address on Wednesday to launch a new effort to study how war may be fought as tech advances rapidly. It’s being called Project Meridian. 国防部长皮特·海格塞斯（Pete Hegseth）周三在“部队状况”（State of the Force）演讲中宣布启动一项新计划，旨在研究随着技术飞速发展，未来战争将如何进行。该计划被称为“子午线项目”（Project Meridian）。
Elon Musk, Anduril founder Palmer Luckey, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will co-lead the project. They’ll be joined by others from fields such as academia and policy, all working under the direction of Defense Department CTO Emil Michael. 埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）、Anduril创始人帕尔默·拉奇（Palmer Luckey）以及前众议院议长纽特·金里奇（Newt Gingrich）将共同领导该项目。他们将与来自学术界和政策制定等领域的专家合作，并在国防部首席技术官埃米尔·迈克尔（Emil Michael）的指导下开展工作。
Their job is to “study the battlefields of the future” and the “weapons and technologies warfighters” may use on them, said Hegseth in a letter announcing the project. The team (it is unclear how many people will be on it) will have 120 days to submit its findings and propose “actionable solutions to start developing, testing, and fielding” advanced technology meant to keep America a dominant military power, per Hegseth. 海格塞斯在宣布该项目的信中表示，他们的任务是“研究未来战场”以及作战人员可能使用的“武器和技术”。据海格塞斯称，该团队（目前尚不清楚具体人数）将有120天的时间提交研究结果，并提出“可操作的解决方案，以开始开发、测试和部署”旨在保持美国军事主导地位的先进技术。
Hegseth also announced an Autonomous Warfare Command on Wednesday to speed up the development and deployment of autonomous systems and drones. One curious detail in the Pentagon’s announcement is that the study will come through a partner organization, but the announcement does not say who that organization is or who leads it. After TechCrunch reached out to the Defense Department for comment, the department referred us to a press release, saying it had “nothing further to provide beyond the Secretary’s comments.” 海格塞斯周三还宣布成立“自主作战司令部”（Autonomous Warfare Command），以加快自主系统和无人机的开发与部署。五角大楼公告中一个令人好奇的细节是，这项研究将通过一个合作组织进行，但公告并未说明该组织是谁，也未说明其负责人是谁。在TechCrunch就此事联系国防部寻求置评时，国防部将我们转至一份新闻稿，并表示“除了部长的评论外，没有更多信息可以提供”。
Musk’s and Luckey’s involvement is hardly surprising. Musk, in particular, has reportedly renewed close ties with the administration and recently had lunch with the president — alongside other top AI leaders — to discuss the future of AI. The project seemingly marks his first official return to the administration’s fold since he left the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last year. 马斯克和拉奇的参与并不令人意外。据报道，马斯克尤其与本届政府恢复了密切联系，最近还与其他顶级人工智能领袖一起与总统共进午餐，讨论人工智能的未来。该项目似乎标志着他自去年离开政府效率部（DOGE）以来，首次正式回归政府核心圈。
Musk’s SpaceX launches satellites for the U.S. government and operates a satellite network that supports national defense and security missions. Luckey’s defense tech company Anduril, meanwhile, creates autonomous military systems and drones and was recently awarded government contracts to produce long-range missiles, semi-autonomous fighter aircraft, and supply hardware and integration for the Army’s mobile intelligence system. 马斯克的SpaceX公司为美国政府发射卫星，并运营着支持国防和安全任务的卫星网络。与此同时，拉奇的国防科技公司Anduril致力于制造自主军事系统和无人机，最近还获得了政府合同，用于生产远程导弹、半自主战斗机，并为陆军的移动情报系统提供硬件和集成服务。
The Trump administration has made advanced military technology a priority, in both development and purchasing, and has looked to Silicon Valley-approved companies to help make this happen. Critics could argue that putting Musk and Luckey on Project Meridian directly aligns with their business interests, since they would be trying to find solutions their companies already sell. 特朗普政府已将先进军事技术列为开发和采购的优先事项，并寄望于硅谷认可的企业来协助实现这一目标。批评人士可能会认为，让马斯克和拉奇参与“子午线项目”直接符合他们的商业利益，因为他们可能会倾向于寻找其公司已经在销售的解决方案。