Lifeboat Foundation

AI is changing the way we live and the global balance of military power. Ex-Pentagon software chief Nicholas Chaillan said this month the U.S. has already lost out to China in military applications. Even 98-year-old Henry Kissinger weighs in on AI as co-author of a new book due next month, “The Age of AI: And Our Human Future.”

Kai-Fu Lee has been sizing up the implications for decades. The former Google executive turned venture capitalist looked at U.S.-China competition in his 2018 book, “AI Superpowers.” His new book, “AI 2041,” co-authored with science fiction writer Chen Qiufan, suggests how AI will bring sweeping changes to daily life in the next 20 years. I talked earlier this month to Lee, who currently oversees $2.7 billion of assets at Beijing-headquartered Sinovation Ventures. Sinovation has backed seven AI start-ups that have become “unicorns” worth more than $1 billion: AInnovation, 4Paradigm, Megvii, Momenta, WeRide, Horizon Robotics and Bitman. We discussed Lee’s new book, the investments he’s made based on his predictions in it, and where the U.S.-China AI rivalry now stands. Excerpts follow.

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The U.S. Navy has invented a new device to prevent people from speaking, one that people with siblings will recognize instantly. The handheld acoustic hailing and disruption device records a person’s speech and spits it back out again, disrupting their concentration and discouraging them from speaking further. Although an interesting—and very familiar—concept it’s unlikely this tech will ever see use on the battlefield.

The handheld acoustic hailing and disruption (AHAD) was developed by engineers at Naval Surface Warfare, Crane Division, a Navy research and development facility in Indiana that develops handheld and crew-served weapons for the service. The patent, New Scientist reports, was issued in 2019.

Continue reading “The Navy Invented a Device to Prevent People From Talking” »

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the military alliance of 30 countries that border the North Atlantic Ocean, this week announced that it would adopt its first AI strategy and launch a “future-proofing” fund with the goal of investing around $1 billion. Military.com reports that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will join other NATO members in Brussels, Belgium, the alliance’s headquarters, to formally approve the plans over two days of talks.

Speaking at a news conference, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the effort was in response to “authoritarian regimes racing to develop new technologies.” NATO’s AI strategy will cover areas including data analysis, imagery, cyberdefense, he added.

Artificial intelligence is set to revolutionize the world, empowering those nations that fully harness its potential. The U.S. is still seen as the world AI leader, but China is catching up. The race is central to the U.S.-China rivalry and a critical facet of the economic and military competition that will define the decade.

#China2030 #AI #BloombergQuicktake.
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An attempt to evade missile defenses threatens to worsen a costly arms race.

The joint patrol first passed through a 12-mile-wide strait between Japan’s main islands in an already significant show of force.

Mapping the ocean floor will have plenty of scientific and commercial uses. The military, too, may be interested.

That layer would be absolutely essential in trying to defend against a FOBS, that is if a defense at all is actually feasible or even strategically sound. We are not talking about a rogue state here with a few advanced ballistic missiles. China would be able to deploy dozens or even hundreds of these at once. At a certain point, kinetic defenses against such a capability become a losing proposition and a very costly one at that.

Still, this was an early test aboard a full-on rocket used for traditional space access missions. It will take China some time to perfect such a system and package it in a quickly deployable militarized configuration. Major thermal and ablative issues also must be overcome, among others, but it’s not like China hasn’t been working diligently in the hypersonic boost-glide vehicle realm for many years.

Regardless, if this report ends up being fully accurate, one thing is likely: New calls for hugely expensive missile defense capabilities will be ringing loud and often on Capitol Hill, as well as demands to do whatever possible to bring China to the bargaining table in hopes of obtaining some type of strategic arms limitation treaty.

North Korea fired at least one ballistic missile from its eastern coast on Tuesday morning, according to South Korean and Japanese officials.

The launch took place in the port city of Sinpo, Hamgyong province, at about 10 a.m. local time Tuesday (9 p.m. ET Monday), South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. In a text to reporters, the JCS said it appeared to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the missile is estimated to have been fired from the sea, but has yet to confirm whether it was launched from a submarine. Sinpo is home to a North Korean naval shipyard.