A startup called Smack is building AI models to plan military missions, unlike other companies that avoid defense contracts.
San Francisco: Smack Technologies is a company that makes AI models for military planning. The company got $32 million in funding this week.
CEO Andy Markoff used to work as a commander in special forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. He says current AI models are not good enough for military use. “Claude and other AI systems are good at reading reports but not at understanding real-world physical situations,” Markoff explains.
Smack’s AI learns by playing war games and getting feedback from expert analysts. Markoff says his models will soon be better than Claude at planning military operations. The company is spending millions of dollars to train their first AI models.
Some tech companies like Anthropic don’t want their AI used for military purposes. But Markoff thinks military people should control military AI. “People who make sure AI is used properly should wear uniforms,” he says. Markoff believes AI can help commanders save time when planning missions, which are now done with whiteboards and notepads.