THE LAST ARK

CHAPTER 39: STRATEGY AI

Innovation Unit, Washington, DC Two Days Before Temple Ceremony

The hack into Jester’s phone failed, but Matt fi nds his nephew’s insights into Putin’s endgame intriguing. Rather than trust the brilliant but unreliable savant, he asked CISA Director Jamie Spencer to meet with Major Barry Lufk in, Senior Engineer for the Department of Defense Innovation Unit. “Major Lufk in, good to see you again,” Matt greets. He became familiar with the top-secret program while he was secretary of defense in a prior administration. “Director Adelson, Director Spencer,” greets Lufk in. “Welcome to our little slice of the future.” “Th is is the fi rst that I’ve heard of SAAI,” Jamie replies, his eyes wide with wonder at the wall monitor displays of various battlefi elds from around the globe. “Th at’s because this system doesn’t exist, and you were never here,” Matt reminds him of the security clearance to loop Jamie in. “The IU runs the US Strategic Analysis AI platform. Our job is to develop complex strategies and policy recommendations in real-time. Designed to process intelligence from thousands of field sensors, weapon systems, ships, drones, satellites, and other sources, SAAI can infer enemy strategies that connect beyond individual battle movements. SAAI gave us insights into the Ukraine invasion months ahead of time.” Matt has a deep familiarity with the concept. DARPA based early components of SAAI on the SLVIA algorithms developed by Dr. Nelson Garrett decades ago. Matt was the primary sponsor for the SLVIA program when he was a director at the CIA. Matt takes a deep breath. “Let me explain why I’ve called you both together. I need to test a theory on the Kremlin cyber endgame. Until now, we’ve responded to individual provocations. Crimea, Syria, Ukraine, hypersonic missiles, misinformation or ransomware. Since Ukraine, Putin has threatened a new level of retaliation. While nukes remain on the table, I believe Putin will use cyber first. We know the SolarWinds hack revealed a new strategy to work from the inside out. I would like your teams to work together to integrate military with cyber, misinformation, and kompromat—the full strategic spectrum.” “What prompted this inquiry?” Major Lufkin asks. “We’re experiencing an increase in AI platform malfunctions, which some have written off as bad algorithms. I’m not convinced. I want to know if those incidents reflect data poisoning. Can we trace that data poisoning to the SolarWinds or other software hacks?” Matt questions. “If so, what are the objectives, who’s behind it, and how do we stop it?” Jamie nods his head. “Data poisoning is a plausible theory, but to date, no one can prove it, or define a scalable process to detect, or purge the bad data. We can only speculate poisoning to explain AI malfunctions, but the problem could just as well be an error in the algorithm, or an AI learning curve.” Lufkin and Matt exchange a brief glance before Matt explains. “An ex-CIA analyst whom I respect believes that Putin uses an army of H1 visa holders inside the tech industry to feed the bad data. He speculates the hacks established false personas or data sources for intentional data poisoning. That’s a theory. I need you to prove or disprove it.” Major Lufkin nods. “If true, then poisoned data could create a series of seemingly unrelated and untraceable sabotage.” “Exactly. Gentlemen, I need you to reconfigure the SAAI platform to look beyond heavy weapon systems to include attacks on national and corporate cyber networks, ransomware, software hacks, and even misinformation. For bonus points, I want to see if there is a kompromat component to the strategy. My office will forward a log of every Congressional vote on every bill that affected cyber, or AI programs, or every Treasury or DOJ refusal to prosecute a major hack, or Russian oligarch. If there is a link, I need you to find it.” Jamie whistles while Major Lufkin opens his eyes wide. Matt knows he won’t get everything he wants, and he certainly won’t get it within days. But he’s desperate for an AI who can locate the core of the kompromat that he already knows must exist. Jason may have connected a key dot. The law firm that represented Jeffrey Epstein also represents the Russian Alpha Bank, and a handful of Russian oligarchs, including a partner to Epstein named Yuri Yankovic. That same firm has lawyers spread throughout Congress, the DOJ, and the Treasury. Kirkland Otis. If Jester’s theory proves correct, the cancer of Putin’s influence may have already metastasized.