U.S. Cyber Command is building infrastructure to swap between AI models from any vendor or country as it begins using its first dedicated AI funding in 2026, the command’s chief AI officer said. [1]
Brig. Gen. Reid Novotny said the command wants to test and deploy the strongest models available, including open-source tools and systems made in China, and is not concerned about politics in model selection. “To survive anywhere, just in case our operators want an open-source made-in-China model or something very boutique, we have to create the infrastructure and that ability to be agile — no politics,” he said at the SANS AI Cybersecurity Summit in Arlington. [1]
Novotny, the first AI officer at Cyber Command, is tasked with integrating AI into both offensive and defensive cyber operations. He said, “I’m zero percent concerned about politics,” and added that the command is building a system that can switch between models regardless of vendor or origin. [1]
The command is using its 2026 AI budget to pilot commercial AI capabilities and build the underlying infrastructure for model switching, according to the report. That effort comes as Anthropic’s models have faced complications in government rollout because of concerns about hacking capabilities. [1]
Access to Anthropic’s Mythos Preview was limited at the time described in the report to a patchwork of agencies, including the National Security Agency and the Commerce Department’s AI testing institute, while the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency did not have access. OpenAI, meanwhile, was said to be engaging with federal, state and international government offices to deploy its competing product, GPT-5.4-Cyber. [1]
Cyber Command’s AI work is now tied to that 2026 funding stream, which will support pilots and the platform needed to run multiple models inside military cyber operations. [1]