AI on the Battlefield: Project Maven and the Future of War with Jack Shanahan

Project Maven stands as one of the earliest and most consequential efforts to bring AI into military operations. This week, Elisa sits down with Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, former Director of the Department of Defense’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center and founding Director of Project Maven, to explore how AI entered the battlefield and why it became a strategic priority for the U.S. military. Together, they examine the development of Project Maven, the challenges of using massive troves of defense data, the risks of data manipulation, and how the U.S. can think responsibly about AI, autonomy, and military advantage in the decades ahead.Lt. Gen. John “Jack” Shanahan, USAF Ret., is the former inaugural Director of the Department of Defense’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center and founding Director of Project Maven, the DoD’s first operational AI program. References:Manson, Katrina. Project Maven: A Marine Colonel, His Team, and the Dawn of AI Warfare. W. W. Norton & Company, 2026.