Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine delivered a stark message Wednesday during the Google Public Sector Summit in Washington, D.C., warning that global threats are rising and calling for a united push to harness artificial intelligence (AI) across sectors.
“The threats we face out there are real and increasing,” Caine said in a recorded video address. “Our global risk algorithm is getting more complicated. Our adversaries are aligned. They’re building faster, integrating more aggressively, and accelerating from concept to capability and scale.”
Caine said the U.S. joint force must be ready “at a moment’s notice for large-scale” operations and urged greater collaboration between government, industry, and innovators to strengthen national defense.
He highlighted the power of AI already demonstrated in the public sector, citing models that accelerate life-saving research, multilingual chatbots that improve access to public services, and systems that connect residents to affordable health-care.
“These are real outcomes, not just experiments,” he said. “The public sector is already leading on AI. Now we need to do it at scale.”
Calling it a “national charge,” Caine urged engineers, policymakers, and industry leaders to work together and move beyond pilot projects.
“This nation has always been known for making the impossible possible,” he said. “What we need is that spirit now – attacking today’s challenges and the future fight.”