We are in a race for the future of humanity and the only way to win a race is to push your foot on the accelerator.
I don't think Israelis fully appreciate the national security implications of losing the race in artificial intelligence.
And I don't think most people understand just how astonishing AI's capabilities have already become.
We are talking about machines beginning to make original discoveries at the frontiers of mathematics, physics, biology, and computer science.
Consider what has happened in just the past year:
Mathematics: In October 2026, OpenAI released an extraordinary collection of AI-generated mathematical research: currently 719 manuscripts organized into 372 families of results that would have taken 100 years of human effort to replicate. Source: OpenAI's mathematics repository
Research-level mathematical reasoning: Google's Gemini Deep Think reached gold-medal performance at the International Mathematical Olympiad and subsequently contributed to original mathematical research, including autonomous solutions to previously open Erdős problems and advances in theoretical computer science and physics. Source: Google DeepMind, February 2026
Scientific reasoning: Research led by MIT's Neil Thompson found that frontier AI models improved from solving approximately 2% of a selected set of theoretical science problems in 2024 to approximately 35% in 2026. These included problems in quantum physics, cosmology, statistics, and economic theory. Source: WIRED, October 14, 2026
Biological discovery: Anthropic reported that Claude autonomously identified a previously uncharacterized enzyme system with CRISPR-like features after analyzing massive genomic datasets. Researchers have begun experimentally investigating the system, although its function remains unknown. Source: Anthropic, September 23, 2026
Now think about the implications for military technology.
Mathematics underpins physics. Physics underpins engineering. Engineering underpins virtually every sophisticated weapons system on the planet.
Now consider Iran.
Imagine what happens when AI capabilities become orders of magnitude more powerful.
What happens to Iran's ballistic missile programs when advanced AI can accelerate their research in materials science, propulsion, and complex physical modeling?
What happens to its Shahed drones when increasingly capable AI can improve autonomous navigation and coordination across large numbers of drones?
And what happens when frontier AI dramatically increases the sophistication of offensive cyber operations?
CSIS has documented how Russia took Iran's original Shahed designs and developed increasingly sophisticated Geran drones, including variants with AI-enabled computer vision and autonomous navigation. Technology and operational knowledge have also begun flowing back toward Iran Source: CSIS — AI-driven drone autonomy
Anti-AI propaganda is a foreign influence operation.
In June 2026, OpenAI exposed influence operations originating in China that used AI-generated content and fake online personas to amplify criticism of American AI infrastructure and technology policies. Source: OpenAI — PRC-linked influence operations
Imagine a future where Western countries and Israel, having a population influenced by this Chinese propaganda, significantly decelerate AI development while China continues advancing.
Imagine China surpassing the United States in frontier AI and then transferring some of those capabilities to Iran.
Israel's security has always depended heavily on maintaining a technological advantage over adversaries that vastly outnumber us.
What happens if that advantage disappears?
What happens if Iran gains access to scientific and engineering capabilities that dramatically accelerate the development of the very weapons Israel must defend against?
While Israelis, who were smoking the anti-AI propaganda, have no ability to defend against AI-driven weapons?
In an extreme scenario, this could become a question of Israel's survival as a state.
I have spent years concerned about AI alignment and safety. Those risks are genuine, and I am not arguing that we should ignore them.
But there is another risk that deserves much more attention. The risk of AI deceleration due to anti-AI propaganda.
This is the risk that Israel and its allies restrain their own technological development due to its "unpopularity" while authoritarian adversaries like China and Iran continue advancing.
We must recognize that the consequences of falling behind could be existential for the future existence of our state.