![\"Workers](\"https:\/\/cdn.defenseone.com\/media\/img\/upload\/2018\/07\/11\/AP_18145395355768\/defense-large.jpg\")
Russia and the United States are moving\u00a0<\/strong>closer to opening their own centers for military-related research into artificial intelligence, as China did in the spring of last year. But the three governments have differing approaches. The\u00a0U.S.<\/span>\u00a0Joint Artificial Intelligence Center\u00a0aims to apply lessons from an Air Force pilot project to other military services, while the Chinese approach fuses civilian and military research and Russia\u2019s efforts are closely directed from the\u00a0Kremlin.<\/p>\nRussia<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s interesting is the extent to which the Russian government and especially the Ministry of Defense is marshaling resources for the development of\u00a0AI<\/span>\u00a0for its military,\u201d said Sam Bendett, an associate research analyst at\u00a0CNA<\/span>\u00a0and a fellow in Russia studies at the American Foreign Policy\u00a0Council.<\/p>\n The new\u00a0innovation technopolis, dubbed Era and slated to open in September with a bare-bones research staff, is planned to grow to a 50-acre city by 2020. \u201cAlready, there are dozens of soldiers from military companies getting sent there, along with the initial private-sector staff,\u201d Bendett said. \u201cEra\u00a0military staff are already involved in various scientific and technical activities, such as the recently launched de-mining robotics competition at the Alabino testing ground near\u00a0Moscow.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo doubt that Pentagon\u2019s announcement on establishing\u00a0JAIC<\/span>will be met with a certain degree of apprehension by the Russians, who are concerned about significant financial resources poured into\u00a0AI<\/span>\u00a0development by the American private sector. Currently, Russian\u00a0AI<\/span>\u00a0funding is only a small fraction of what is spent in the\u00a0U.S.<\/span>\u2014 or China, for that\u00a0matter.\u201d<\/p>\n Among the park\u2019s first missions: exploring\u00a0applications of blockchain for Russian cybersecurity.<\/p>\n U.S.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The\u00a0U.S.<\/span>\u00a0Defense Department effort will be different. Rather than an open exploration of new technologies, the effort will seek to replicate the Department\u2019s success with Project Maven, its fledgling\u00a0AI<\/span>\u00a0program for object recognition. But it will look across different services and missions. If you\u2019re a commander and you have a problem that\u00a0AI<\/span>\u00a0could help solve \u2014 be it logistics, open-source data analysis, probability distributions \u2014 then someone from the center will want to pitch you on an\u00a0AI<\/span>\u00a0fix for your\u00a0problem.<\/p>\n A June 27\u00a0memo\u00a0from Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan calls for a set of National Mission Initiatives, or \u201clarge-scale efforts to apply\u00a0AI<\/span>\u00a0to a cluster of closely related, urgent, joint challenges\u201d to \u201cbe developed in partnership with the Military Departments and Services, Joint Staff\u2026and other\u00a0DOD<\/span>components and mission\u00a0owners.\u201d<\/p>\n The memo also designates\u00a0CIO<\/span>\u00a0Dana Deasy to head up the new\u00a0JAIC<\/span>.<\/p>\n The announcement is very much in-line with what sources told Defense One\u00a0the\u00a0JAIC<\/span>\u00a0would focus on back in April, just after the announcement of the new\u00a0center.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s an element [of the Defense Department] that\u2019s asking, \u2018How do we make a Project Maven factory?\u2019\u201d one source said\u00a0then.<\/p>\n China<\/strong><\/p>\n Both the Russian and the\u00a0U.S.<\/span>\u00a0efforts to stand up an\u00a0AI<\/span>\u00a0innovation center are behind\u00a0China.<\/p>\n The Chinese government has said it wants to dominate a global innovation in\u00a0AI<\/span>\u00a0by 2030. And China, too, has an\u00a0AI<\/span>\u00a0institute of sorts spread across multiple laboratories. The People\u2019s Liberation Army regularly recruits top\u00a0AI<\/span>\u00a0researchers; some officers are also researchers, such as Maj. Gen. \u00a0Li Deyi, who leads the China Association for Artificial\u00a0Intelligence.<\/p>\n \u201cThe\u00a0PLA<\/span>\u00a0Academy of Military Science has established a new research center for artificial intelligence, and the\u00a0PLA<\/span>\u00a0National National University of Defense Technology has created a new institute for intelligent sciences,\u201d said Elsa Kania, an adjunct fellow with the Technology and National Security program at Center for New American Security. \u201cTsinghua University, China\u2019s\u00a0MIT<\/span>, has established a \u2018high-end\u2019 laboratory for military\u00a0intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n Kania noted that the University\u2019s mission is aligned with the Chinese government\u2019s goal of\u00a0fusing civilian and military technological\u00a0development.<\/p>\n \u201cIn China, leading companies and universities, such as Baidu and Tsinghua, appear to be engaged in military-relevant research and development. The\u00a0PLA<\/span>\u00a0itself has also established a number of new\u00a0AI<\/span>\u00a0research centers at some of its premier institutions, including at the Academy of Military Science and National University of Defense Technology.\u2019\u201d she\u00a0said.<\/p>\n The three distinct approaches to the development of artificial intelligence reflect, in a way, the character of the society from which they emerge. That they are accelerating at the same is a sign of the sense of urgency, optimism and dread of being left behind that governments are feeling around artificial\u00a0intelligence.<\/p>\n