The Pentagon’s cyber warfare arm is launching a task force to speed up the deployment of sophisticated artificial intelligence tools with powerful hacking capabilities, according to three people with knowledge of the effort.
The initiative from the US Cyber Command – which has not been previously reported – underscores the Pentagon’s concerns about the sudden emergence of AI models built by the private sector that can detect security flaws in digital systems faster than the world’s best hackers.
The task force was announced to staff two weeks ago by Gen. Joshua Rudd, the dual-hatted head of the National Security Agency and Cyber Command, according to an internal email described to POLITICO by two people with knowledge of the effort.
These people, like others in this report, were not named because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the sensitive effort.
According to the email, the task force will use Cyber Command and the NSA, and will study how the Pentagon can safely deploy leading AI models across all aspects of its mission, the two people said. This includes evaluating how AI models built by Silicon Valley tech giants can be used on “high-end” systems containing some of the intelligence community’s most sensitive secrets.
Spokesmen for Cyber Command, the NSA and the Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.
The creation of the task force comes a month after AI giant Anthropic announced that it is its ownthe newest model, Claude Mythoshe was so adept at finding and exploiting cyber vulnerabilities that they would only be shared by a small group of trusted cyber defenders.Anthropic warned thenthat the fallout in the economy, public safety and national security could be “severe” if the instrument were to fall into the wrong hands.
Other leading AI companies,including OpenAIsince then they have announced that they have models with the same advanced skills as hacking andthey started their plans like thatto limit access. Anthropic officials have estimated that similar designs will be widely available in six to 24 months, potentially allowing low-skilled hackers to plant a large digital disruption.
Concerns over the spread of advanced AI designs have arisenGreat efforts of the White Houseformerge executive commandwhich could have frontier AI labs such as Anthropic, OpenAI and Google submit their designs to government testing before they are released to the public. It marks a major shift for the Trump administration, whichpreviously suggested a hands-off approachfor AI control.
The task force is not directly linked to the upcoming EO, although the Cyber Command and the NSA are expected to play a central role in any new efforts related to cyber security.
Through its recently established AI Security Center, the NSAalready working with the Department of Commercelearning the network capabilities of new cross-border AI models – work that can be expanded and streamlined in the new EO.
“The broader government relies on the NSA’s technology expertise to say, ‘how do we do this securely?'” said the first of the two people.
POLITICO previously reportedthat any potential surveillance regime would ensure the US intelligence community can understand the capabilities of these new types before foreign adversaries such as Russia and China get to them.
The NSA is responsible for intercepting foreign communications and accessing the US government, while Cyber Command is charged with preventing digital attacks on Defense Department systems and supporting military operations.
In his email, Rudd indicated the task force would draw expertise fromNSA’s AI Security Center,and identified a commander from Cyber Command to lead it, said the two people. Both declined to name the commander for security reasons.
It is not clear how large the task force is or how long it may operate. The National Cyber Mission Force, an operational unit of the Cyber Command,was arranged insix joint task forces by 2024and historically it hassupported the work of Cyber Commandon election security, ransomware attacks and other cyber threats.
A former senior national security official, who did not want to be named for fear of retribution, said the task force’s standoff showed that Rudd felt the Cyber Command and the NSA needed to move more quickly to deploy rapidly developing AI tools on their networks. This person added that handing over the leadership role to the commander of Cyber Command suggested that the combatant command “manages more, and the NSA supports it.”
Much of the task force’s technical strength, however, is likely to come from the NSA, the person added. The sprawling intelligence agency boasts the top scientific and computing talent in the U.S. government, while Cyber Command has for years struggled with talent management issues.
Earlier this month,The Pentagon announced that it had signed the contractsand seven technology companies, including OpenAI and Google, to start using their AI models on classified networks.
Anthropic islocked in a legal battleand the Pentagon, disrupting the Mythos’ wide distribution in the federal government. Department of Defense in Marchhe took an unprecedented stepof designating Anthropic a supply chain risk, after the company sought to prevent the use of its tools in freedom warfare and mass surveillance activities.
An Anthropic official previously told POLITICO the company is willing to allow the U.S. government to use Mythos in offensive cyber operations. That’s something the Pentagon is likely to investigate — and it could create pressure within the Defense Department to lift the supply risk designation on Anthropic.
Lt. Gen. Charles Moore, the former deputy commander of Cyber Command, told POLITICO he was “aware” of Cyber Command’s plans to establish an AI task force, and said he saw it as “not just a good idea but a necessity.”
“AI tools are rapidly becoming critical to detect threats, prioritize vulnerabilities, accelerate decision making and conduct defensive and offensive cyber operations faster than our adversaries,” Moore said. “The Task Force can help integrate AI across operations, training, intelligence and cyber defense while ensuring the United States maintains analytical superiority against our adversaries.”
Working with the private sector to increase the nation’s cyber offensive capabilities isthe cornerstone of the Trump administration’s new cyber security strategypublished in March. In it, the White House called on federal agencies to adopt “AI-powered cybersecurity solutions” to protect government networks. It also said the Trump administration would “open up the private sector” to help “increase our national capabilities” on cyber offense and defense.
