Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt Is Working on a Secret Military Drone Project • Hacker News Board

Re: Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt Is Working on a Secret Military Drone Project

#51

Post by giardini » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 9:54 PM UTC

el-dude-arino wrote: post #14

kramerger wrote: post #6

Maybe it was completely unrelated, but pre-Schmidt Google was nice. Under Schmidt it started its journey towards becoming the creepy stalker it is today. Never liked the guy, and wouldn't surprise me if he is working on landmines targeting children.

He's diddling the CEO of his main investment; Michelle Ritter of Steel Perlot. He's a fucking creep who got lucky and was in the right place at the right time, just like most tech oligarchs we all bow to, like Musk, Larry and Sergey, Zuckerberg, or Dorsey. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/2023/10/23/eric-schm...

FTFY:

He's rumoured to be lover of Michelle Ritter of Steel Perlot. Steel Perlot is apparently his main investment.

Scnmidt may have been lucky enough to "be in the right place at the right time". Time will tell.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/2023/10/23/eric-schm...

Shorter, factual, and easily as informative but without slurs.

Re: Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt Is Working on a Secret Military Drone Project

#52

Post by 4gotunameagain » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 9:55 PM UTC

dmoy wrote: post #50

4gotunameagain wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious as to what you found meaningful working for the defence industry ? Genuine question. I am asking because to me it does not seem like "defence" whatsoever.

In the US, the "defense industry" is just anything military-ish related. Or not even military related, but funded by e.g. NRL/AFRL research grants. It stems from the renaming of the Department of War to the Department of Defense after WWII.

I am well aware, and I am well aware of where the US military operates or where the US military industrial - so called defence - complex exports its weapons.

Which is precisely why I am curious what the OP found "meaningful".

Re: Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt Is Working on a Secret Military Drone Project

#53

Post by mckn1ght » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 9:55 PM UTC

nerpderp82 wrote: post #26

ChumpGPT wrote: post #16

After watching 1000's of Ukrainian drone videos, it's absolutely terrifying for the foot soldier these days. You almost stand zero chance and as for vehicles, it can seriously impact their usefulness. APC's,Tanks become scrap metal from a $500 drone carrying a shaped charge. The US has always depended on air superiority to fight its wars, they are completely unprepared for what facing an enemy with superior air defen…

Which is why we should be halting the progression and use of the drones like we are seeing in Ukraine. No one wins a drone war.

> No one wins a drone war.

A non sequitur with no justification. If you are being attacked with drones, and you don’t have any, you are definitely going to lose that war.

This is like how people say nobody wins a nuclear war. Ask Ukraine how they feel about the decision to give up their nukes is going.

Re: Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt Is Working on a Secret Military Drone Project

#54

Post by adventured » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 9:56 PM UTC

nerpderp82 wrote: post #26

ChumpGPT wrote: post #16

After watching 1000's of Ukrainian drone videos, it's absolutely terrifying for the foot soldier these days. You almost stand zero chance and as for vehicles, it can seriously impact their usefulness. APC's,Tanks become scrap metal from a $500 drone carrying a shaped charge. The US has always depended on air superiority to fight its wars, they are completely unprepared for what facing an enemy with superior air defen…

Which is why we should be halting the progression and use of the drones like we are seeing in Ukraine. No one wins a drone war.

The nation that can destroy (or otherwise severely impair) the drone manufacturing/supply/operation capabilities of the opponent, wins a war that heavily includes drones. That's assuming the drones matter that much, which hasn't been demonstrated yet. Drones have not shifted the balance of power in Ukraine v Russia for example. It's no different than blowing up any other kind of weapons supply. You stop the supply, that's how you end the mass drone threat in that kind of war. You don't just endlessly trade hits from drones. That'd be like never targeting your opponents artillery production, or tank production, or cruise missile production, or jet production, or repair facilities, et al.

Of course one side or the other will win a drone war, just like most any other war.

Re: Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt Is Working on a Secret Military Drone Project

#55

Post by kiba » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 9:56 PM UTC

ChumpGPT wrote: post #16

After watching 1000's of Ukrainian drone videos, it's absolutely terrifying for the foot soldier these days. You almost stand zero chance and as for vehicles, it can seriously impact their usefulness. APC's,Tanks become scrap metal from a $500 drone carrying a shaped charge. The US has always depended on air superiority to fight its wars, they are completely unprepared for what facing an enemy with superior air defen…

The infantry man is basically vulnerable to everything on the battlefield and yet they remain indispensable as ever.

Re: Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt Is Working on a Secret Military Drone Project

#56

Post by threeseed » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 9:57 PM UTC

jjtheblunt wrote: post #37

How could Schmidt, kicked off the Apple Board of Directors for passing secret Apple designs to Google back when Android had a trackball, get a security clearance?

The same way Palmer Luckey did who is far more erratic and unpredictable.

Government has learnt from Ukraine war that iterating quickly on technology is vital for the future of the military.

Re: Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt Is Working on a Secret Military Drone Project

#57

Post by ziddoap » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 9:58 PM UTC

subandi wrote: post #24

ziddoap wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently it's the French term for NATO (" Organisation du Traité de l’Atlantique Nord "), directly translating to "North Atlantic Treaty Organization". At least according to some random website I found after a search. I wish there was a rule that forced people to spell out an acronym the first time they use it, regardless of how much they think the acronym is common knowledge.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO It kinda is common knowledge though, the French version is right on the official flag and displayed all the time.

I don't have the flag memorized, and wouldn't know to look at the flag unless I already knew what the acronym was.

Re: Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt Is Working on a Secret Military Drone Project

#58

Post by adventured » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 9:59 PM UTC

mckn1ght wrote: post #53

nerpderp82 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is why we should be halting the progression and use of the drones like we are seeing in Ukraine. No one wins a drone war.

> No one wins a drone war. A non sequitur with no justification. If you are being attacked with drones, and you don’t have any, you are definitely going to lose that war. This is like how people say nobody wins a nuclear war. Ask Ukraine how they feel about the decision to give up their nukes is going.

Ukraine couldn't use or maintain those nuclear weapons.

They had no control over their actual use. So why would Ukraine feel bad about giving them up? It was a huge benefit to get rid of them given the risks and costs associated.

They absolutely could not afford to maintain them circa 1991-2021. Not even remotely close.

Giving them up was the only thing that made any sense given their extremely low real value. If Ukraine made a mistake, it was in what they got in return for those non-functional weapons. They didn't negotiate very well.

Re: Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt Is Working on a Secret Military Drone Project

#59

Post by ProjectArcturis » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 9:59 PM UTC

nerpderp82 wrote: post #26

ChumpGPT wrote: post #16

After watching 1000's of Ukrainian drone videos, it's absolutely terrifying for the foot soldier these days. You almost stand zero chance and as for vehicles, it can seriously impact their usefulness. APC's,Tanks become scrap metal from a $500 drone carrying a shaped charge. The US has always depended on air superiority to fight its wars, they are completely unprepared for what facing an enemy with superior air defen…

Which is why we should be halting the progression and use of the drones like we are seeing in Ukraine. No one wins a drone war.

>No one wins a drone war.

Not with that attitude they won't.

Re: Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt Is Working on a Secret Military Drone Project

#60

Post by threeseed » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 10:00 PM UTC

infotainment wrote: post #44

threeseed wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google Adwords pre-dates Schmidt joining. And so it's unfair to blame him for what is an inevitable path once you decide to become an advertising-centric company.

I disagree -- the original AdWords felt like it was intended to be different . It was visually subtle, ads were clearly marked as ads, and the way it worked was completely transparent. Google made a choice to enshittify AdWords.

The Google Ads I am looking at right now are visually subtle, clearly marked as ads and I run a lot of them and everything is very transparent about how it all works.

And my point is that when you decide to become an advertising company it is inevitable that you are going to want to acquire ever more data about your users.