Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Just Launched a 120-day Study – Pentagon Taps Elon

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just launched a 120-day study on the future of warfare, led by Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey, and Newt Gingrich, and while it makes sense given their ties to the administration, critics could point out that Musk's and Luckey's companies already sell the kinds of technology the study is likely to recommend. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a “ State of the Force ” address on Wednesday to launch a new effort to study how war may be fought as tech advances rapidly. It’s being called Project Meridian.

Elon Musk, Anduril founder Palmer Luckey, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will co-lead the project. They’ll 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 “study the battlefields of the future” and the “weapons and technologies warfighters” may use on them, said Hegseth in a letter announcing the project.

The team (it is unclear how many people will be on it) will have 120 days to submit its findings and propose “actionable solutions to start developing, testing, and fielding” advanced technology meant to keep America a dominant military power, per Hegseth. Hegseth also announced an Autonomous Warfare Command on Wednesday to speed up the development and deployment of autonomous systems and drones. One curious detail in the Pentagon’s announcement is that the study will come through a partner organization, but the announcement does not say who that organization is or who leads it.

After reached out to the Defense Department for comment, the department referred us to a press release, saying it had “nothing further to provide beyond the Secretary’s comments.” Musk’s and Luckey’s involvement is hardly surprising. Musk, in particular, has reportedly renewed close ties with the administration and recently had lunch with the president — alongside other top AI leaders — to discuss the future of AI. The project seemingly marks his first official return to the administration’s fold since he left the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last year.

Musk’s SpaceX launches satellites for the U.S. Government and operates a satellite network that supports national defense and security missions.

Luckey’s defense tech company Anduril, meanwhile, creates autonomous military systems and drones and was recently awarded government contracts to produce long-range missiles, semi-autonomous fighter aircraft, and supply hardware and integration for the Army’s mobile intelligence system. 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. Topics Government & Policy When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission.

This doesn’t affect our editorial independence. Dominic-Madori Davis Senior Reporter, Venture Dominic-Madori Davis is a senior venture capital and startup reporter.

She is based in New York City. You can contact or verify outreach from Dominic by emailing dominic.davis@ com or via encrypted message at +1 646 831-7565 on Signal.

View Bio October 13 – 15 San Francisco Get 50% off a second pass The Disrupt experience is meant to be shared. Get your pass and bring a colleague, partner, or peer at 50% off.

Cover more ground by making connections, building momentum, and discovering what’s next in the startup ecosystem. BOOK NOW Most Popular AMD will acquire Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs for $8.2B Tim Fernholz Viral AI agent Instinct raises $1B Series C at a $10B valuation Sarah Perez Crusoe abandons $1.25B plan to use Boom turbines at AI data centers Kirsten Korosec Astra and Opus just passed Turing’s other test Tim Fernholz Waymo is scaling fast: Here’s what the fleet data shows Kirsten Korosec Oracle sends force majeure notice on its New Mexico Stargate data center Aditya Mehta Meta’s Muse Charm looks like a Tamagotchi, but it’s tapping into a much newer trend Sarah Perez.