Page 28 - ADT AUG - OCT 2024 Digital Magazine | GBP

A CHANGED LANDSCAPE

Major defence contractors still hold sway, but an increasing number of defence

contracts are going the way of big tech companies and disruptive startups

By ARUN SIVASANKARAN
M icrosoft, Oracle, getting increasingly cozy. 2018, thousands of Google employ-

ees voiced their opposition to
Amazon, Google, Dell,
Motorola, IBM – these
the project that used the company’s
are not names that you expect to Munich-based AI company is not Google working with Pentagon on
even five years old but was valued
find on a list of major companies at €4.9 billion this July. The firm, AI technology to analyze drone
that have won major multi-bil- which has “artificial intelligence surveillance footage. Following the
lion-dollar defence contracts. to serve our democracies” as its outcry, the company announced
motto, already counts the British, that it would not renew the con-
Much of the money still goes for tract or work on future AI projects
conventional weapon systems and German, French, Estonian and that involved work on weapons
to established defence contractors, Ukrainian governments among its and surveillance projects “violating
but as artificial intelligence (AI)- customers. Among the contracts internationally accepted norms.”
enabled military technologies take that the company has signed are The company’s involvement with
hold of the sector, militaries around Airbus’ future Wingman system, the Pentagon, however, did not end
the world have increasingly opening the German Eurofighter Electronic there.
their doors to big tech companies Warfare upgrade with Saab, and
as well as disruptive defence tech the AI infrastructure for the Future
Combat Air System involving
startups. According to an April “While we are not developing AI
2024 Costs of War report on “How Germany, France and Spain. Other for use in weapons, we will con-
young tech companies making their
Big Tech and Silicon Valley are tinue our work with governments
Transforming the Military-Industrial mark in the sector include Shield AI, and the military in many other
Anduril Industries, HawkEye 360,
Complex,” U.S. military and intel- areas,” CEO Sundar Pichai wrote
ligence agencies awarded major Skydio, Rebellion Defense, and to employees in the aftermath of the
Epirus.
tech firms contracts with ceilings protest. Since then, Google’s tech
worth at least US $53billion com- expertise has been used on multiple
bined between 2019 and 2022. Deepening Relationship defence projects, including for Air
Elsewhere as well, tech companies Force military aircraft maintenance,
and military decision-makers are Remember Project Maven? In and detection of corrosion on Navy
28 | AUGUST - OCTOBER 2024 WWW.GBP.COM.SG/ADT