The Pentagon is gutting the team that tests AI and weapons systems
1 min read
Summary
The US Department of Defence’s Operational Test and Evaluation Office, which is responsible for testing and evaluating the safety of weapons and AI systems, has been gutted as part of the Trump administration’s policy of reducing wasteful bureaucracy and spending.
Operational since the 1980s, following concerns from Congress that the Pentagon was fielding inadequately tested weapons, its staff has been cut from 94 to 45 and it has been given one week to implement the changes.
The decision has led to concern that it will pave the way for faster adoption of weapons and AI, which may not be as safe or effective as promised, from companies that have connections to the Trump administration, such as Anduril and Anthropic.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is developing ambitious pilots for the use of large language models.
These models, which have been criticised for producing hallucinations and errors, will now have less independent scrutiny.