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October 1, 2026
2:00 pm
EVENT: Winning the Adoption War: Diffusing AI Across the U.S. Military
The United States leads the world in frontier artificial intelligence. However, cutting edge technology used by a limited number of people is a trophy, not a capability – and the contest with China will not be decided only at the frontier.
If the most sophisticated technology on earth reaches only a fraction of the force, how much advantage does it confer? How is the Pentagon moving from procuring AI to diffusing it across the force? What cultural and organizational changes does an “AI-first” military require? And how does the United States build and keep the technical talent inside government, turning tools into outcomes before its competitors close the gap?
To discuss these questions and others, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) hosts a conversation with FDD Visiting Military Fellow Major Megan “Napalm” Hainline, F-16 instructor pilot and AI leader; FDD Adjunct Fellow Isaac “Ike” Harris, executive director of the Frontier Security Institute; and Leah Siskind, FDD AI Research Fellow. The discussion will be moderated by RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, Senior Director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation.
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Overnight Brief: October 5, 2026
Read Full BriefToday In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
- Video, audio, and transcript: "Winning the Adoption War: Diffusing AI Across the U.S. Military," FDD Event
- Today at 8:30am (ET): "FDD Morning Brief," FDD Event
- "The Houthis, Tehran, and the Deep Red Sea," FDD's Foreign Podicy
- "Revenge Is a Central Pillar of Iranian Foreign Policy," The Wall Street Journal
- "Russian Cyberespionage Campaign Signals U.S. Should Fast-Track Lessons Learned From Ukraine," FDD Policy Brief
- "Defense Department’s Public Election Security Directive Sends Important, but Belated, Signal to U.S. Adversaries," FDD Policy Brief
- "Syria faces infrastructure sabotage, Islamic State activity amid utility shortages," FDD's Long War Journal
- "US charges engineer with supporting Houthis, Louisiana brothers and Florida man with financing Hamas," FDD's Long War Journal
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