Michael C. Horowitz

The Cost of the AGI Delusion By chasing superintelligence, America is falling behind in the real AI race.

“Washington must ensure that the pursuit of artificial general intelligence does not come at the expense of near-term AI adoption,” write @mchorowitz.bsky.social and @laurenakahn.bsky.social. “Racing toward a myth is not sound policy.”

The Cost of the AGI Delusion By chasing superintelligence, America is falling behind in the real AI race.

"There is no doubt that AI is a very powerful invention. But when it comes to AGI, the hype has grown out of proportion," write PWH Faculty Director @mchorowitz.bsky.social and @laurenakahn.bsky.social in @foreignaffairs.com. Read here: www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

In a quote in @defenseone.bsky.social, PWH Faculty Director @mchorowitz.bsky.social describes former Defense Innovation Unit head Doug Beck's legacy upon his resignation: “...DIU under Doug Beck increased its ability to accelerate capability delivery that would make a difference on the battlefield,”

Is the Pentagon Slowing Artificial Intelligence Adoption? Senior Pentagon officials have demoted a crucial AI office from senior leadership to inside the research and development shop. They say it will lead to an AI-first push, but the move could put Trump’…

"The critical next step for the development of AI and the continued defense of U.S. national security interests is adoption at scale," write PWH Faculty Director @mchorowitz.bsky.social and PWH Fellow Radha Iyengar Plumb for @cfr.org. Read here: www.cfr.org/article/pent...

Pentagon moves AI office under R&D, raising fears it’s ‘demoting AI’ - Breaking Defense “When you pull an organization that was a direct report to the deputy secretary or secretary and move it somewhere else…the message to the force is loud and clear: This isn’t a priority,” said retired...

“Demoting AI within the Pentagon seems pretty risky at this point in history,” says PWH Faculty Director @mchorowitz.bsky.social in a quote for @breakingdefense.com on the DoD’s AI shake-up. Read more: breakingdefense.com/2025/08/pent...

YouTube video by Pod Save the World Trump’s Strongman Summit Is A Gift to Putin

On the latest episode of Pod Save the World, PWH Faculty Director @mchorowitz.bsky.social discussed how drones and artificial intelligence have ushered in a new era of warfare. Listen here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwRl...

God, Guns, and Sedition: Far-Right Terrorism in America Far-Right Terrorism in America

Exciting news: GOD, GUNS, and SEDITION is out today in paperback!

My @cfr.org and @columbiaup.bsky.social book, co-authored with @hoffmanbruce.bsky.social, tells the story of far-right terrorism in America and beyond—a topic that sadly remains as relevant as ever. bookshop.org/p/books/god-...

Pentagon looks to unleash ‘military drone dominance’ U.S. defense chief Pete Hegseth has ordered the military to fast-track the adoption of a boosted number of small drones deployed across the force.

PWH Faculty Director @mchorowitz.bsky.social is quoted in this @japantimes.co.jp piece about the Pentagon's use of drones in the military. Read more: www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/07...

Did Big Tech just outfox the China hawks?

To read the latest on the White House's position on Nvidia and AMD's sales of chips to China, read this @politico.com piece with a quote from PWH Faculty Director @mchorowitz.bsky.social: www.politico.com/newsletters/...

AI, Autonomous Weapon Systems, and the Future of Warfare with Dr. Michael C. Horowitz, University of Pennsylvania | Squaring the Circle

Listen to PWH Faculty Director @mchorowitz.bsky.social on the Squaring the Circle podcast, discussing AI, autonomous weapon systems, and the future of warfare. 🎧Listen here: shows.acast.com/squaring-the...

Is the U.S. Ready for the Next War? With global conflicts increasingly shaped by drones and A.I., the American military risks losing its dominance.

PWH Faculty Director @mchorowitz.bsky.social is quoted in this @newyorker.com piece: “Ukraine has shown us that in future wars we have to expect that data links with all sorts of platforms and systems will be severed. Autonomy lets you solve that issue.” Read more: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Will Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful’ Defense Spending Last? Trump’s signature legislation will push defense spending past $1 trillion, with new funding for innovation and other capabilities. But those investments are at risk of becoming one-off acquisitions w…

🚀🇺🇸 Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill" adds $150B in defense $. It could accelerate emerging tech adoption to stay ahead of China + bolster nuclear deterrence...or not. Learn more in latest from me, @dumbacher.bsky.social, @laurenakahn.bsky.social for @cfr.org www.cfr.org/expert-brief...

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Is the Wrong Framework for AI Governance | AI Frontiers Michael C. Horowitz, Jun 27, 2025 — Placing AI in a nuclear framework inflates expectations and distracts from practical, sector-specific governance.

AI governance and policy needs to start from the assumption that, as a general purpose technology, AI tech WILL diffuse - the analogy to the control paradigm of nuclear tech won't work! See my recent piece w/ @laurenakahn.bsky.social in @aifrontiers.bsky.social ai-frontiers.org/articles/nuc...

What Drones Can—and Cannot—Do on the Battlefield The Pentagon should learn from Israel and Ukraine.

How can the United States prepare for the future of warfare? Read the latest by @mchorowitz.bsky.social, @laurenakahn.bsky.social, and CMIST’s @joshschwartz.bsky.social in @foreignaffairs.com on how the U.S. can adapt to the changing nature of war www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

What Drones Can—and Cannot—Do on the Battlefield The Pentagon should learn from Israel and Ukraine.

What does the Israel-Iran War / Russia-Ukraine War suggest about emerging tech and the future of warfare? Excited to have a new @foreignaffairs.com article w/ @mchorowitz.bsky.social + @laurenakahn.bsky.social on how to bring balance to the (military) force www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

What Drones Can—and Cannot—Do on the Battlefield The Pentagon should learn from Israel and Ukraine.

“If the Pentagon does not adjust to the new realities of warfare, it will lose the ability to deter adversaries’ aggression before it occurs—and perhaps the ability to win wars,” warn @mchorowitz.bsky.social‬, @laurenakahn.bsky.social, and @joshschwartz.bsky.social.

What Drones Can—and Cannot—Do on the Battlefield The Pentagon should learn from Israel and Ukraine.

"If the Pentagon does not adjust to the new realities of warfare, it will lose the ability to deter adversaries’ aggression before it occurs" write @mchorowitz.bsky.social, @laurenakahn.bsky.social, & @joshschwartz.bsky.social in @foreignaffairs.com. Read here:
www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Yes. Plus the IAEA has credibility because of its inspections, which would be nearly impossible to replicate for AI.

We should resist the temptation to use the nuclear age and non-proliferation regime as the basis for #AI policy. It's different tech and the approach won't be effective. My latest with @laurenakahn.bsky.social ⬇️

Fixing the Pentagon’s Broken Innovation Pipeline The Pentagon’s outdated budget process is stifling innovation and must be reformed to outpace rising threats. The views in this article are those of the authors alone and do not represent those of the...

"The DoD’s budget and acquisition processes are broken in ways that jeopardize the military’s ability to deter and defeat major global threats, especially from China," write @mchorowitz.bsky.social and @laurenakahn.bsky.social in this piece for National Interest: nationalinterest.org/blog/techlan...

Why does it feel like the Pentagon keeps doing innovation wrong + how can we fix it? Latest with @laurenakahn.bsky.social tackles these key questions! Check it out! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

At the risk of losing all my friends and embarrassing my future self if this all goes badly, as it well may, I’m going on record to say attacking Fordow was the right thing to do. Based on the following.

Following news breaking that the Trump administration is reviewing a trilateral agreement between the U.S., Australia, and the UK, PWH Faculty Director @mchorowitz.bsky.social shared his insight from working on the agreement during his time at the Pentagon: perryworldhouse.upenn.edu/news-and-ins...

These Are the Lethal Autonomous Weapons That Terrify the U.S. Military AI-powered drones are already transforming warfare—and the U.S. is in a high-stakes battle to catch up with Russia and China before it’s too late.

PWH Faculty Director @mchorowitz.bsky.social
shares his insights on the age of precise mass and the use of AI in the military in this Popular Mechanics piece: www.popularmechanics.com/military/wea...

These Are the Lethal Autonomous Weapons That Terrify the U.S. Military AI-powered drones are already transforming warfare—and the U.S. is in a high-stakes battle to catch up with Russia and China before it’s too late.

Thoughts from me here in Popular Mechanics on how the era of precise mass in war means AI-enabled strike is increasingly accessible and deadly... www.popularmechanics.com/military/wea...

Check it out!

Ukraine’s Operation Spider Web Shows Future of Drone Warfare Ukraine said it had used 117 drones to target airfields deep in Russian territory. The daring attack demonstrated low-cost precision strikes accessible to almost any state or militant group.

Want to know how Ukraine’s drone attack inside Russia worked and could affect the future of warfare? Read our senior fellow @mchorowitz.bsky.social’s analysis @cfr.org. www.cfr.org/expert-brief...

Autonomous Weapon Systems: No Human-in-the-Loop Required, and Other Myths Dispelled - War on the Rocks References by Pentagon officials, the think tank world, and various world leaders to autonomous weapon systems often cite a U.S. military policy

In a new piece for @warontherocks.bsky.social , PWH Director @mchorowitz.bsky.social dispels myths about U.S. policy on autonomous weapons, using insight from his time in the Pentagon where his team rewrote the directive on autonomy in weapon systems. Read more: warontherocks.com/2025/05/auto...

Autonomous Weapon Systems: No Human-in-the-Loop Required, and Other Myths Dispelled - War on the Rocks References by Pentagon officials, the think tank world, and various world leaders to autonomous weapon systems often cite a U.S. military policy

Time to do some myth busting about autonomous weapon systems. Most important- it is time to stop talking about whether there is a human in the loop. warontherocks.com/2025/05/auto... @warontherocks.bsky.social

Under the Nuclear Shadow China's Deterrence Playbook

PWH director @mchorowitz.bsky.social and PWH faculty fellow @fiona-cunningham.bsky.social are featured on @jordanschneider.bsky.social's China Talk about Cunningham's new book, Under the Nuclear Shadow: China’s Information-Age Weapons in International Security.
🎧: www.chinatalk.media/p/chinas-nuc...