Why is Trump pushing faster use of AI in the military, and what are the safeguards?

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The memo calls for wider use of AI but sets limits on how it can be used.

3 min readJun 6, 2026 06:41 AM IST

First published on: Jun 6, 2026 at 06:39 AM IST

President Donald Trump speaks at Custer Farms in Chippewa Falls, Wis. (Photo: AP)

US President Donald Trump has asked the military and national security agencies to speed up the use of artificial intelligence, while stressing that safeguards must be in place, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

In a memo to top officials, Trump said AI should be adopted in a controlled way and remain consistent with US laws and civil liberties.

What does the memo say?

The memo calls for wider use of AI but sets limits on how it can be used.

“The use of AI by the national security enterprise must always be consistent with United States civil liberties and protections,” the memo said, according to AP.

It also said AI should not be used to “censor free speech, embed ideological bias, or conduct unlawful surveillance”.

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What changes are planned for weapons?

Trump has asked for an updated directive on autonomous weapons to reflect fast changes in AI.

The memo directs the Pentagon “to ensure the deliberate adoption of AI systems that respect the chain of command,” AP reported. Existing policy requires human judgement in decisions on the use of force.

Why is there concern?

While AI can help identify targets faster and manage logistics, there are concerns about oversight and misuse.

Military officials say human control remains important. Adm Frank Bradley said forces must be careful in using AI and ensure that force is applied only where intended.

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How Claude was used in the Venezuela operation

The US military deployed Claude, Anthropic’s artificial intelligence model, during its early January operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the Wall Street Journal reported. It marks the first known use of an Anthropic AI model in a classified military operation.

The US military accessed Claude through a partnership between Anthropic and Palantir Technologies, a data firm with long-standing defence contracts. Palantir’s platforms are widely used by the US Department of Defense and federal law enforcement, and they enable secure access to AI tools on classified networks.

The specific ways Claude supported the operation have not been made public. It may have been used to process intelligence, analyse communications or help with planning and decision-making, tasks for which large AI models are valued.

The US and other militaries increasingly deploy AI as part of their arsenals. Israel’s military has used drones with autonomous capabilities in Gaza and has extensively used AI to fill its targeting bank in Gaza.

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The US military has used AI targeting for strikes in Iraq and Syria in recent years.

Critics have warned against the use of AI in weapons technologies and the deployment of autonomous weapons systems, pointing to targeting mistakes created by computers governing who should and should not be killed.

The Pentagon announced in January that it would work with xAI, owned by Elon Musk. The defence department also uses a custom version of Google’s Gemini and OpenAI systems to support research.

(With inputs from agencies)

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