Eric Schmidt/PHOTO: jdlasica (CC)
For a while after Joe Biden was recognized as the victor in the November presidential election, political punditry wondered which direction he would go: pro- or anti-Big Tech?
That has been clearly answered, as Biden installed several Silicon Valley influencers on his transition team, which in turn have helped populate his administration with former Big Tech executives.
Tops among them has been former Google/Alphabet CEO/Chairman Eric Schmidt, whose role hasn’t been formalized by name, but his presence certainly has been.
It’s not Schmidt’s ties to the search engine tech giant that are of greatest interest any more. Instead it’s his role as board member and top investor on a shiny new defense contractor that specializes in artificial intelligence technology, called Rebellion Defense, that is concerning because of a likely conflict of interest for Schmidt.
Australia Risks Confrontation With Biden Administration Over Big Tech: Expert
Silicon Valley is hoping a Biden administration will push back an impending wave of global regulation aimed at curbing the power of the tech giants, with Australia likely to be in the crosshairs, according to one expert.
“Big Tech went big for Biden in 2020 and is now an important constituency of what might be called the right (or at least the ‘less left’) wing of the Democratic Party,” Salvatore Babones, associate professor at the University of Sydney and an expert in the Asian political economy said in a newly released report (pdf).
22 Jan 2021
A year-old defense company backed by a $63 million investment from board member and former Google Chairman Eric Schmidt is already working its way into the good graces of the Biden administration.
Two employees of the company, Rebellion Defense, are serving as staff members for President Biden’s transition team, alongside employees from more established tech companies like Uber and Amazon.
The
What is Rebellion Defense? With a
Star Wars allusion as its name, this firm is not your typical contractor. Rebellion launched in the summer of 2019 to craft artificial-intelligence (AI) software for the defense industry. Trade publications gushed about how innovative it was. It quickly raised $63 million, with the conspicuous backing of its board member Eric Schmidt. Schmidt is best known as the former CEO of Google, but he’s also a billionaire investor and an influential consultant to key government bodies.
Silicon Valley Takes the Battlespace
Through an obscure startup named Rebellion Defense, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt attempts to buy his way into the Biden White House.
Days after winning the November election, Joe Biden announced the names of those staffing his transition. Big Tech landed prominent spots. Among the hundreds of personnel on the agency review teams serving the president-elect, there was one from Uber, two from Amazon, and one from Google. And then there were two people from Rebellion Defense, a shadowy defense startup.
The announcement sent Washington insiders scrambling to look up the company. No major defense contractors appeared on the list. âItâs sure odd that a year-old startup like Rebellion winds up with two employees serving on a presidential transition team,â Ken Glueck, the executive vice president of the tech company Oracle, told me.
Michael Allen
Managing Director of Beacon Global Strategies LLC; Former Majority Staff Director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Kari Bingen
Robert Cardillo
John P. Carlin
Marcel Lettre
Jason Matheny
Founding Director of Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology; Former Assistant Director of National Intelligence and Director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity
John McLaughlin
Distinguished Practitioner in Residence, The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies; Former Deputy Director and Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
Jami Miscik
Stephen Slick
Director of The University of Texas at Austin’s Intelligence Studies Project; Former CIA Clandestine Service Officer and National Security Council Senior Director for Intelligence Programs and Reform