U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, director at the Department of Defense’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, will step down from his role and retire from military service this summer, C4ISRNET reported Friday.
Shanahan, a 2020 Wash100 awardee, has led the center and its efforts to accelerate department-wide adoption of AI technology platforms since December 2018.
He previously served as director of the Pentagon’s Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team, also known as Project Maven. The project aimed to incorporate AI and machine learning approaches into video or photo analysis to identify objects and individuals.
At two different events held last year, he said that DoD should invest in technology to counter deepfakes and emphasized the potential of AI to support national security missions.
The Air Force commissioned Shanahan in 1984 through the ROTC program. His military career has also included roles as commander of the 480th Intelligence Group, the Service Cryptologic Component and the 25th Air Force.
Lt. Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson, a JAIC spokesman, confirmed Shanahan’s upcoming retirement in an email sent Thursday to C4ISRNET.
