00:00 Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Thursday, January 11th.
00:04 Today on Forbes, ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt is working on a secret military drone project.
00:13 Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt has been quietly plotting a new defense tech effort, a stealth
00:18 military drone project, this according to four sources with knowledge of the effort.
00:24 The project's existence has not been previously reported and it has yet to publicly launch.
00:30 The clandestine project intends to provide an American alternative to Chinese drones
00:35 and will develop unmanned aircraft systems specifically to be used on the battlefield,
00:40 two of the sources said.
00:42 Three of the sources familiar with Schmidt's engagements said the work is influenced by
00:46 his recent visits to Ukraine, where the billionaire has made inroads with government officials
00:50 and military leaders over the past year.
00:54 Two of these individuals added that Sebastian Thrun, a co-founder of Google's Moonshot
00:58 Lab, is involved with the effort.
01:01 Forbes was unable to determine who other than Thrun is helping with the secretive project,
01:05 when it commenced, and whether Schmidt is its sole backer.
01:09 According to two sources, only a handful of people are working on the project, which Schmidt
01:13 has largely managed to keep quiet due to geopolitical sensitivities.
01:18 It's unclear whether a company has even been incorporated.
01:22 Schmidt and Thrun declined to comment.
01:25 Schmidt has opined extensively on the way drones are reshaping the war in Ukraine.
01:29 In a July op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, after returning from Kiev, Schmidt wrote,
01:34 "The future of war will be dictated and waged by drones."
01:40 Earlier this year, the Washington Post reported that Schmidt, alongside other investors, had
01:44 committed $10 million to Ukrainian startup accelerator D3, which focuses on military
01:49 tech but appears to be separate from this new venture.
01:53 D3, which stands for Dare to Defend Democracy, will provide an initial $125,000 in funding
01:59 to early-stage startups, as well as mentorship opportunities.
02:04 Since leaving his chairman role at Google in 2017, Schmidt has poured much of his time
02:09 and wealth into bridging the interests of Silicon Valley and the Pentagon through various
02:13 advisory committees, think tanks, and his vast startup portfolio.
02:18 In Washington, D.C., he's advocated for military agencies to accelerate their technology investments,
02:24 particularly around AI, which he believes will play a key role in national security
02:28 and China affairs.
02:30 Schmidt previously served as chairman of the Defense Department's Innovation Board and
02:34 commissioner of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, where he made
02:38 formal recommendations on America's AI strategy.
02:42 These government connections have given Schmidt a statesman-like halo in the U.S. and abroad,
02:47 where he's leveraged his clout to meet with powerful military strategists.
02:51 Schmidt's recent personal missions to Ukraine helped to inform his new drone project, according
02:56 to three sources familiar with the billionaire's thinking.
02:59 In particular, two of them said, he was interested in the country's use of drones and quadcopters
03:04 to launch a counteroffensive against Russia.
03:06 In September 2022, Andrei Yermak, head of the office of President Volodymyr Zelensky,
03:13 announced that he and Schmidt had discussed "technological solutions" for expelling Russian
03:18 forces from Ukraine.
03:21 Sebastian Thrun, a veteran aeronautics founder and Schmidt's former Google colleague, makes
03:26 sense as a collaborator.
03:28 A robotics expert from Germany, he forged his first ties with Google in 2010, after
03:33 co-founder Larry Page recruited him to build self-driving cars, which Thrun had already
03:37 been working on at Stanford University.
03:40 The initiative would eventually become Google Parent Alphabet's Waymo subsidiary, and the
03:44 lab morphed into Google X, the tech giant's Skunk Works incubator for moonshot projects.
03:50 In 2010, Thrun also founded the air taxi startup Kitty Hawk with backing from Page.
03:55 However, that startup shut down last year.
03:59 He also created the online education company Udacity in 2011, before leaving his role as
04:04 a vice president and fellow at Google three years later.
04:07 He recently announced a new AI company called Sage Labs.
04:12 For full coverage, check out Sarah Emerson and Richard Nieves' piece on Forbes.com.
04:18 This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.
04:21 Thanks for tuning in.
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