US President Donald Trump orders faster AI adoption in military while protecting civil liberties

President Donald Trump issued a memorandum directing the U.S. armed forces and security agencies to speed up the deployment of artificial‑intelligence (AI) technologies. The memo calls for an updated directive on autonomous weapons to reflect rapid AI advances and urges the Department of Defense to ensure AI systems respect the chain of command and civilian oversight.

Trump stresses that AI use must not be employed to censor speech, spread ideological bias, or conduct illegal surveillance, emphasizing compliance with constitutional protections. The order revises the 2023 Biden‑era policy, which required human judgment over lethal autonomous systems.

The memorandum arrives amid growing debate over AI in warfare, with companies such as Anthropic seeking guarantees that their technology will not be used in fully autonomous weapons. The department has faced pressure both to harness AI for tasks like target identification and logistics, and to address ethical concerns raised during recent conflicts in the Middle East.