Technocrats reporting for duty, Sir!
Silicon Valley isn’t just selling tools to the Pentagon anymore. Now, it’s wearing the uniform.
Given the way this year is unfolding, it’s no surprise the military just pulled a power move by recruiting four Silicon Valley heavyweights — Shyam Sankar (Palantir), Andrew Bosworth (Meta), Kevin Weil (OpenAI), and Bob McGrew (Thinking Machines Lab) — as lieutenant colonels in a newly created Army Reserve detachment.
According to an Army press release:
The US Army is establishing Detachment 201: The Army’s Executive Innovation Corps, a new initiative designed to fuse cutting-edge tech expertise with military innovation. On June 13, 2025, the Army will officially swear in four tech leaders.
Det. 201 is an effort to recruit senior tech executives to serve part-time in the Army Reserve as senior advisors. In this role they will work on targeted projects to help guide rapid and scalable tech solutions to complex problems. By bringing private-sector know-how into uniform, Det. 201 is supercharging efforts like the Army Transformation Initiative, which aims to make the force leaner, smarter, and more lethal.
The idea is to tap elite civilian expertise to support strategic military goals without pulling these millionaires away from their tech-bro day jobs. The newly-minted officers will likely never see combat or command a battalion, and will receive a measly two weeks of online and face-to-face training at Fort Benning, Georgia on physical fitness, marksmanship, and the basics of being a soldier. They’ll work remotely, but have clearance to access secure and classified content.
Some might say this is a move born of real urgency, as the US is supposedly falling way behind its adversaries in the global tech race. For example, the Chinese military reportedly just integrated AI into its naval operations, improving the stealth and efficiency of its warships. China also just announced an AI verification system to distinguish real nuclear warheads from decoys. Russia and Ukraine have frequently been using AI to guide swarms of attack drones.
Yes — the US military and Silicon Valley do indeed work closely together. And those ties were on full display last weekend during President Trump’s military parade. Palantir, Oracle, and Amazon were among the major corporate sponsors, along with Exiger, an AI-powered supply chain management company.
Palantir is behind Project Maven, which uses AI to autonomously detect, tag, and track objects or humans of interest from surveillance images or videos. Last month, the Pentagon raised the contract ceiling for the ‘Maven Smart System’ from $480 million to nearly $1.3 billion through 2029, saying demand for the technology is increasing.
Meta recently opened up its Llama AI model for military use and also just partnered with a defense technology company, Anduril Industries, to build augmented and virtual reality devices for the military. Anduril is known for creating unmanned underwater and aerial devices and for developing the Lattice OS software used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Open AI is also working with Anduril to use AI to improve defense systems that protect the US from attacks by unmanned drones and other aerial devices.
But here’s the question: If there are already such close ties between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon, and if the DoD is already writing huge checks to these tech companies, what is the significance of going all Revenge of the Nerds with a special Army Reserve detachment? Why is it necessary? Why now? Who benefits?
While military modernization has always leaned on private expertise (as far back as 1909, Wilbur Wright gave flight instruction to the military after they bought their first aircraft from the Wright brothers), this time feels different. These tech executives won’t just offer training and advice. They’ll wear insignia, have access to classified environments, and be in a position to influence military strategy. They are the human link between civilian tech and military tech.
If the companies they work for (and own stock in) stand to benefit from those strategic decisions, what guardrails exist to prevent conflicts of interest? What does it mean when the same person in charge of developing AI models for commercial use also shapes how the military might deploy them?
We’re witnessing a move toward technocracy across the public and private sectors, with major decisions shaped by networks of unelected, elite actors — people whose expertise is real, but whose accountability is murky. Are we entering an ugly new phase of public-private partnership?
The public was never asked about this initiative. There was no debate in Congress. There was no press conference laying out the implications. Just an Army announcement, followed by an awkward ceremony that channelled a mashup of Hogan’s Heroes and Stripes.
Some readers may argue that having technocrats in the Army isn’t a bad thing. Surely we need innovation and we want to be able to compete, right? But isn’t it worth pausing to ask if we want defense strategy shaped behind closed doors by people who are also invested — literally or structurally — in the outcome?
If we don’t stop to ask these questions now, are we sure we will be able to recognize the red lines after they’ve been crossed? Decisions are already being made by people we didn’t elect, in rooms we can’t see, for systems we don’t understand. A lot of people are making a lot of money — taxpayer money, no less — while those who pay the taxes don’t have a clue about it all.
This is scary stuff , with all the war mongering going on.
May no one else turn up for their wars ❤️🩹
Actually, I think it is scarier for the "new recruits."
Back when they were just contractors, they had access to the same things. As members of the military, they are in a whole new world without the same rights as they had as civilians. They live under a completely different justice system.