The $1.15 trillion 2027 National Defense Authorization Act includes numerous provisions aimed at “reforming the Pentagon” with steps to accelerate the adoption and purchase of low-cost munitions. But one of the most notable items is the call for the creation of a new “Robotic and Autonomous Systems Combatant Command.”

The Senate Armed Services Committee cleared the NDAA in an 18-9 vote Thursday. The theoretical new command likely would focus on streamlining the acquisition process for massive numbers of small drones and then delivering those drones to troops.

It could significantly shift how the Defense Department approaches unmanned systems in the air, on land and in the water. It also could help address critics’ concerns that current Pentagon drone programs are too disparate and scattered throughout the department.

The sudden departure Thursday of British Defense Secretary John Healey cast harsh light on the dire state of the armed forces of America’s closest ally. Mr. Healey wrote in a public letter that he was resigning because the government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer is “unwilling” to commit “required” defense funding.

“I am being forced to make decisions that would reduce the readiness of our forces and increase the risk to personnel on operations, and could make the country less safe,” Mr. Healey wrote. 

He went on to reveal that he had sought a British defense spending increase to 3% of gross domestic product by 2030, but the current government plan calls for just 2.68% by then. Despite widespread rumors, there had been no indication Mr. Healey, respected on both sides of the House of Commons, would fall on his sword.

Beijing is running a covert influence campaign to prevent the development of U.S. data centers needed for artificial intelligence, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Tom Cotton disclosed in a letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche this week. 

“Alarming reports indicate that a network of foreign actors, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is attempting to manipulate U.S. policy and public opinion on data centers,” the Arkansas Republican wrote in the letter seeking a federal investigation.

San Francisco-based OpenAI, which runs the ChatGPT chatbot, separately issued a report this week stating that Chinese-linked influence operations are targeting the American public in the debate over AI, including seeking to create opposition to data centers.

Mr. Trump has nominated U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to permanently replace departing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. The announcement Thursday came hours after the House rejected reauthorization of FISA Section 702 over dissatisfaction that Mr. Trump had chosen Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William J. Pulte to serve as acting DNI.

Mr. Clayton is the top federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York. He’s also the former head of the prominent law firm Sullivan & Cromwell and a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has scheduled Mr. Clayton’s confirmation hearing for Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, says he wants Mr. Clayton confirmed “as quickly as possible.” The committee’s top Democrat, Mark R. Warner of Virginia, says he’s “known and respected Jay Clayton for many years and believe he is a capable public servant.”

It is “all about physics,” writes Daniel N. Hoffman, who assesses that “artificial intelligence is relentlessly hungry for electricity” and that “training a single frontier AI model can consume as much power as a small city uses in a month.

“Running that model at scale, continuously, across millions of users results in a permanent, compounding load,” writes Mr. Hoffman, a retired CIA Clandestine Services officer and opinion contributor to Threat Status.

“Time is of the essence,” he writes in a column in The Washington Times. “Any delay in building out our nuclear capacity risks lagging our AI infrastructure, while China and Russia push forward to dominate AI.”

• June 12 — Privileged but Powerless: Jieun Baek on Pyongyang’s Greatest Weakness, Atlantic Council

• June 12 — Winning the Innovation Competition (Featuring Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering Emil Michael), Hudson Institute

• June 15 — How Should the United States Counter Russia and China’s Hybrid Warfare? Atlantic Council

• June 15 — How to Transform the Japan Self-Defense Force for 21st Century Deterrence, Hudson Institute

• June 16 — Fireside Chat with Assistant Secretary of War Michael Cadenazzi on U.S. Munitions Production, Center for a New American Security

• June 18 — Deterring Russia and China: Securing America’s Nuclear Future, Hudson Institute

• June 24 — IndoPac 2026 | Naval Dominance: Shipbuilding, Autonomy & C2, Threat Status Events