AI Goes to War and Is Not (Yet) Winning This is the core message of "Ambivalent Acceleration," my new comparative assessment of the current state of defense AI in (now) 37 countries. Frank Schmiedchen et al. will publish it in their forthcoming volume "Living with AI: State, Applications, and Challenges of Artificial Intelligence," which should be available from Springer later this year. This chapter updates the findings of all 25 case studies published in "The Very Long Game," and adds new insights from the latest DAIO case studies on PAK, POL, IDN, ROU, BEL, BRA, and all six GCC nations Contrary to the prevailing rhetoric, AI is still primarily considered an extension of existing military systems and platforms, thus prolonging the imaginaries (see yesterday's post "Goodbye California – Hello Kyiv"), concepts, and practices developed to use them. Yes, we are witnessing an accelerated push for defense AI driven by war(s), battlefield deployment, and increasing defense spending and private defense funding. But the outcome is ambivalent: First, emulation is even more dominant than two years ago, albeit with a different twist as the fear of missing out on how Ukraine is using defense AI (FOMO-U) is creating a new role model. And so is, among others, the 5-day war between PAK and IND, as I argue in the paper. Second, developing AI against the background of existing systems and platforms shapes AI in line with their prime tasks. This is strengthening "defense verticals." That's why software is not "eating" defense hardware, as the paper discusses. Finally, concerns about digital sovereignty are significantly more pronounced today than two years ago. This creates a geostrategic dilemma as the partner you might want to work with for geopolitical reasons is the one that limits your leeway for geoeconomic reasons. And now…..enjoy reading the paper. borchert.ch/wp-content/uploa…. Thank you cc @KarasikTheodore @Lauren_A_Kahn @mchorowitz @paul_scharre @KofmanMichael @HoansSolo @Mauro_Gilli @aa_gilli @Konflikt_Sicher @HorizonDefence @Ce_Moll @breitenbauch @sambendett @Adib_Moghaddam @jessicadorsey @WarintheFuture