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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a \u201cState of the Force<\/a>\u201d address on Wednesday to launch a new effort to study how war may be fought as tech advances rapidly. It\u2019s being called Project Meridian.<\/p>\n Elon Musk, Anduril founder Palmer Luckey, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will co-lead the project. They\u2019ll be joined by others from fields such as academia and policy, all working under the direction of Defense Department CTO Emil Michael. Their job is to \u201cstudy the battlefields of the future\u201d and the \u201cweapons and technologies warfighters\u201d may use on them, said Hegseth in a letter<\/a> announcing the project.<\/p>\n The team (it is unclear how many people will be on it) will have 120 days to submit its findings and propose \u201cactionable solutions to start developing, testing, and fielding\u201d advanced technology meant to keep America a dominant military power, per Hegseth.<\/p>\n Hegseth also announced an\u00a0Autonomous Warfare Command\u00a0on Wednesday\u00a0to speed up the development and deployment of autonomous systems and drones. One curious detail in the Pentagon\u2019s announcement is that the study will come through a partner organization<\/a>, but the announcement does not say who that organization is or who leads it. <\/p>\n After TechCrunch reached out to the Defense Department for comment, the department referred us to a press release<\/a>, saying it had \u201cnothing further to provide beyond the Secretary\u2019s comments.\u201d<\/p>\n Musk\u2019s and Luckey\u2019s involvement is hardly surprising. Musk, in particular, has reportedly renewed close ties with the administration and recently had lunch with the president <\/a>\u2014 alongside other top AI leaders \u2014 to discuss the future of AI.<\/a> The project seemingly marks his first official return to the administration\u2019s fold since he left the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last year.<\/p>\n Musk\u2019s SpaceX launches satellites for the U.S. government and operates a satellite network that supports national defense and security missions. Luckey\u2019s defense tech company Anduril, meanwhile, creates autonomous military systems and drones and was recently awarded government contracts to produce long-range missiles<\/a>, semi-autonomous fighter aircraft<\/a>, and supply hardware and integration for the Army\u2019s mobile intelligence system.\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n The Trump administration has made advanced military technology a priority, in both development and purchasing, and has looked to Silicon Valley-approved companies to help make this happen. Critics could argue that putting Musk and Luckey on Project Meridian directly aligns with their business interests, since they would be trying to find solutions their companies already sell.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n