Pentagon Donates AI Model to Minerals Forum

May 5th, 2025

Finian Knepper

One of the most critical aspects of international policy is the management and distribution of resources. Who gets what and how they get it is a fiercely debated part of federal and local policy.

As such, the Pentagon has developed an AI system to help manage these resources. Called Something, the system takes in data from current prices of minerals, supply, labor costs, and other economic data to predict the future price of rare earth minerals. It was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA,) an agency operated by the Pentagon. Its stated goal is to help U.S. manufacturers be less susceptible to market instability and reliance on Chinese rare earth minerals.

The goals of the Pentagon’s AI are similar to that of the Critical Minerals Forum (CMF.) The CMF is a nonprofit comprising over 50 companies, including major car company Volkswagen, mining company South32, and defense contractor RTX. It has the stated goal of boosting market visibility — a goal it reaches by assisting companies with negotiations, sharing information between them, and advising each other on critical minerals around the world.

The Pentagon and the CMF both have similar goals: stopping Chinese influence. Many U.S. officials believe that China is engaging in market manipulation regarding rare earth minerals. This, coupled with confirmed concerns that U.S. manufacturers are overly reliant on Chinese minerals, leads to concerns on the business and military side.

Given the similar goals of the Pentagon and its AI and CMF, it’s no surprise they should work together — something seen when the Pentagon donated its AI system to the nonprofit for its own use. The applications of the technology are enormous. For example, the AI was able to predict what the price of nickel would be in 2028 if Trump imposed 100% tariffs on Indonesia, the world’s top producer. Its effects are already being shown. 4 days ago, Nevada officials said they wanted to work with the nonprofit’s AI to manage copper mines within the state.

However, the Pentagon, for reasons not yet fully known, has decided to donate the AI model to the CMF for its own use in predicting the prices and demand of rare earth minerals.

Whatever the reason or effects may be, rare earth minerals are on the minds of public policy officials, business, and hopefully, extempers over the next few years.