The Pentagon's AI Plan + Behind the Anthropic Fight — With Under Secretary of War Emil Michael

Emil Michael is the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering at the Pentagon. Michael joins Big Technology to discuss how AI is transforming the Department of War, from targeting systems to drone warfare to cyber defense. Tune in to hear his account of why the Pentagon designated Anthropic a supply chain risk, what actually happened in the contract negotiations, and whether the decision was wise. We also cover how the military's Maven Smart System works in practice, what the U.S. learned from drone warfare in Ukraine and Iran, and whether the Pentagon Pizza Index is credible. Hit play for one of the most candid conversations you'll hear about AI and national security. --- Questions? Feedback? Write bigtechnologypodcast@gmail.com Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can listen to The Pentagon's AI Plan + Behind the Anthropic Fight — With Under Secretary of War Emil Michael online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The Pentagon's AI Plan + Behind the Anthropic Fight — With Under Secretary of War Emil Michael is an episode from Big Technology Podcast by Alex Kantrowitz.

This episode is 59:58 long.

This episode was published on Apr 15, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Big Technology Podcast when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.