The Pentagon taps Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey to help decide what the military should do next

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a new project called Project Meridian on Wednesday to study how future warfare may look with advancements in technology. The project will be led by Elon Musk, founder of Anduril, Palmer Luckey, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. They will be joined by experts from academia and policy under the direction of Defense Department CTO Emil Michael.

The team will have 120 days to submit findings and propose solutions for the development, testing, and deployment of advanced technology to maintain America's military dominance. The Pentagon also introduced an Autonomous Warfare Command to accelerate the creation and use of autonomous systems and drones. The involvement of Musk and Luckey is not unexpected, as Musk has recently reconnected with the administration and Luckey's company, Anduril, has been awarded government contracts for various military systems.

The project aligns with the Trump administration's priority on advanced military technology development and procurement, often turning to Silicon Valley-approved companies for assistance.