Army CTO Alex Miller Challenges Industry: Bring Your Best Tech to the Army; Warns of Drone Threats, Praises ChatGPT-5 Energy Efficiency in Washington AI Network Podcast
In an exclusive interview with the Washington AI Network, U.S. Army Chief Technology Officer Dr. Alex Miller pushed for AI companies to offer their best technology to the military, describes the dominance of drones calling them “airborne IEDs” and stressed the importance of working with commercial AI providers in the debut episode of the Washington AI Network Podcast’s new CTO Sessions series.
The veteran technologist and intelligence officer gave his insights on warfighting today, “What you’re seeing in Europe with the drones — those are airborne IEDs,” Miller said. “It is a bomb that can fly a hundred miles an hour. We have to get really good at countering those — using AI to detect them in the electromagnetic spectrum, identify them instantly, and deploy countermeasures in real time.”
The conversation, hosted by Washington AI Network founder Tammy Haddad, covered the Army’s plans for adopting artificial intelligence, speeding procurement, the China threat and preparing soldiers for the future fight.
Miller said the Army will adopt frontier AI models rather than try to build its own.
“I don’t like to compete with industry. That’s bad for taxpayers and not good value for soldiers,” he said. “In areas where industry’s way ahead, I don’t need to compete with the frontier AI providers. We’ll adopt those and tailor them to whatever our mission is.”
On the newly released GPT-5 model, Miller pointed to gains in efficiency over raw intelligence.
“Was there a huge increase in intelligence? Not that I’ve seen online,” he said. “What we see with 5 is another massive consolidation and power efficiency. Eventually, I want to run those LLMs on soldiers’ faces with smart glasses, on their phones, and on their vehicles.”
Miller also highlighted efforts to shorten Army procurement cycles.
“Our next generation command and control document is three pages — three and a half if you count the graphic,” he said. “Then we spend a year just getting technology into our soldiers’ hands to try it and get direct feedback… What we’re trying to do now is fix the process so that’s no longer a workaround — it’s just the way the process works.”
Miller underscored the Army’s central role in U.S. defense.
“When the world dials 911, the phone rings at Fort Bragg,” he said. “We are everywhere, all the time, every day, doing every mission the nation asks us to.”
The episode was recorded August 12 at The House at 1229 in Washington, DC, and presented in partnership with the NobleReach Foundation, where CEO Arun Gupta introduced the 2025 cohort of NobleReach scholars.
The full conversation with Dr. Miller is available now on YouTube and across podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
