This conversation with Emil Michael, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and acting director of the Defense Innovation Unit, was recorded at the a16z American Dynamism Summit in Washington, D.C. Michael walks through how he inherited a department running 14 undefined technology priorities, cut them to six, and made applied AI number one. He also gives the first detailed account of why commercial AI contracts written under the previous administration created a vendor-lock crisis that put active military operations at risk.

Timestamps:
0:00—Introduction
2:50—Why Wartime Speed Matters
5:20—Cutting Priorities to Six
7:22—Applied AI Across Defense
9:17—Commercial Models and Lock-In
14:39—Democratic Oversight and Guardrails
19:30—Fixing Procurement Bureaucracy
22:08—What Startups Must Deliver

Read the full transcript here: https://www.a16z.news/s/podcast

Resources:
Follow Emil Michael on X: https://x.com/USWREMichael
Follow David Ulevitch on X: https://x.com/davidu

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