The DSR Network Siliconsciousness: Are We “Careening Toward Disaster” with Hegseth’s Campaign Against “Woke AI?”
Mar 3, 2026
Alondra Nelson, social scientist and policy expert who led the Science, Technology, and Social Values Lab and served in senior White House science roles. She unpacks the Pentagon's push for unrestricted AI. She examines government reliance on private AI firms and the leverage companies hold. She explores risks from autonomous AI agents and the global race shaping AI governance.
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Pentagon Push For Unrestricted Military AI
- The Pentagon is pushing for unrestricted, militarized AI use and resisting external constraints on surveillance and autonomous weapons.
- Alondra Nelson warns this dynamic reveals government weakness and private AI firms' dominant technical control and data advantage.
Anthropic's Classified Cloud Model In Use
- Anthropic built a classified-cloud model that the Pentagon uses with dedicated compute and faster access than standard federal versions.
- Nelson recalls Dario Amodei's CBS comments that the government isn't getting a slower, limited variant but a strong, dedicated model.
Companies Hold The Leverage Over Government AI
- Private AI companies now develop leading capabilities and often maintain live, regularly updated models in classified clouds for the federal government.
- Nelson notes Anthropic built a state-of-the-art model on a classified cloud with dedicated compute, giving firms leverage over contracts.