Inside the Pentagon’s AI War Machine episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 27, 2026 · 53 MIN

Inside the Pentagon’s AI War Machine

from The World Unpacked · host Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

The U.S. is fighting its first full-scale AI war in Iran — but key details remain largely hidden from Americans and the world. Which military decisions are being automated? How well does AI really perform on the battlefield? Can guardrails prevent fatal errors? Katrina Manson’s timely and deeply reported new book, Project Maven: A Marine Colonel, His Team, and the Dawn of AI Warfare, lifts the lid on this hidden world. In this episode of The World Unpacked, Katrina tells host Jon Bateman about the creation of America’s AI war machine, the rise of Palantir, and the fully autonomous weapons already being tested.  Host:  Follow Jon on X: https://x.com/JonKBateman  Guest:  Katrina Manson — https://x.com/KatrinaManson

A new book on Project Maven reveals how U.S. forces really use AI – with Katrina Manson.

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Inside the Pentagon’s AI War Machine

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This episode was published on March 27, 2026.

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The U.S. is fighting its first full-scale AI war in Iran — but key details remain largely hidden from Americans and the world. Which military decisions are being automated? How well does AI really perform on the battlefield? Can guardrails prevent...

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