Top Pentagon Official Resigns Amid Claims of 'Kindergarten' Level US Cybersecurity

Nicolas Chaillan, a senior Pentagon cybersecurity official has resigned from his post due to his belief that it was impossible for America to compete with China on Artificial Intelligence.

In August of 2018, Chaillan became the Air Force's first chief software officer. In this capacity, he was tasked with equipping the Pentagon with secure software.

Chaillan, who quit on September 2nd, spoke to the Financial Times in an interview that was published this week and expressed his opinion that China was far ahead of the US on cybersecurity.

"We have no competing fighting chance against China in fifteen to twenty years. Right now, it's already a done deal; it is already over in my opinion," Chaillan said.

Several US government departments have been hacked in recent years. In particular, April of 2020 saw departments that included the US Treasury, Department of Homeland Security and State Department be compromised as part of the SolarWinds hack.

Chaillan also stated that tech giant Google has refused to work with the Pentagon on AI.

Conversely, Chaillan said that in China, private cybersecurity and AI firms were at Beijing's disposal.

Chaillan also stated that even if the US spent three times as much as China on defense, it wouldn't matter, because it was being spent incorrectly.

In the LinkedIn post announcing his departure, Chaillan said, "I am just tired of continuously chasing support and money to do my job. My office still has no billet and no funding, this year and the next," he wrote.

Chaillan intends to testify to Congress about the cybersecurity and AI threat posed by China.