US Military’s New GenAI Tool Marks ‘Critical First Step’ in Future Warfare, Expert Says

The Pentagon’s recently launched “GenAI” tool marks what military experts describe as a “critical first step” in transforming modern warfare through artificial intelligence integration. The military-focused AI platform, powered by Google Gemini, is now available to U.S. service members and Department of War personnel.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the platform earlier this month, highlighting its potential to “revolutionize the way we win” by providing military personnel direct access to AI tools. The Pentagon has further enhanced the system by incorporating Elon Musk’s xAI Grok models into the GenAI platform, allowing government employees to utilize xAI on secure systems for routine work, including tasks involving sensitive but unclassified information.

Emelia Probasco, a Navy veteran, former Pentagon official and current senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, explained that the platform will significantly impact daily operations at the Department of War.

“Prior to the rollout of this new website and having Gemini 3 available to the force, folks were either using sort of a tool that wasn’t as capable… or even worse, they were sort of going to their home computers and trying to do various things on their home computers, which they’re not supposed to do,” Probasco told Fox News Digital.

She emphasized that the new platform provides a more secure environment for personnel to experiment with AI tools and develop practical understanding of their capabilities and limitations. While Probasco doesn’t believe these tools “fully changes war,” she considers them essential for training military personnel on effective AI utilization.

The Department of War has made its commitment to AI innovation clear over the past year, with the GenAI tool serving as a testing ground for more significant innovations on the horizon. Probasco described it as a sandbox for experimentation that will help prepare U.S. forces for future conflicts.

“There are responsible people in the department who are trying to figure out what is the best use of this tool. Let’s try lots of experiments in sort of sandboxes or in safe places so that when a conflict comes, we are ready and ahead, frankly, of any adversary who has started to play with the tools,” she said.

The Pentagon’s AI initiatives come as global competitors accelerate their own development efforts. China, in particular, has been aggressively exploring AI applications across all warfare domains. President Donald Trump recently partially reversed a Biden-era restriction on high-end chip exports, allowing Nvidia to export its H200 AI processors to China and other countries—a move that has divided lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

“We have lots of evidence” that China “is doing rapid experimentation [with AI] across all domains of warfare,” Probasco noted. “And it’s not, can I use a chatbot, but rather, ‘Can I gather up lots of information to start to target individuals for espionage?’ For example, [and], ‘Can I use data to create more sophisticated cyber-attacks?'”

This situation has created what Probasco describes as “a dynamic of a race between the two sides trying to figure out how to adopt” AI technology. However, she cautioned that while the GenAI platform represents an important advancement, it is “not going to necessarily be the weapon system that gains [the U.S.] an advantage.”

The more sophisticated AI tools that could provide genuine military advantages “are already in the works, and they’ve been in the works for years,” according to Probasco. Unlike GenAI, these advanced systems won’t be publicly announced or widely available.

“It’s important to remember that using a chatbot to help you think through certain problems or do talking points is not what’s going to win the war,” she explained. “There are much more sophisticated military systems that use generative AI; they use other kinds of what’s called ‘good old-fashioned AI.’ There are lots of other techniques that militaries need to use.”

As the U.S. military continues integrating AI into its operations, the GenAI platform represents just the beginning of a broader transformation in how the Department of War approaches technological innovation and prepares for future conflicts in an increasingly AI-driven global security environment.