Pentagon Innovation Chief Doug Beck Quits; Emil Michael Takes DIU Helm

Doug Beck has resigned as director of the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit, the Silicon Valley–based office charged with fast-tracking commercial technology into U.S. military programs, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. Beck told staff in an email on 25 Aug. that leading the DIU had been “the greatest honor of my life,” but he gave no reason for stepping down. The former Apple executive had run the unit since May 2023 and championed the Replicator initiative, which seeks to deploy thousands of autonomous aerial and maritime drones to counter China. The Defense Department has asked Emil Michael, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, to serve as acting director while it searches for a permanent successor. The DIU, created in 2015, received close to $1 billion in last year’s National Defense Authorization Act and has become a key conduit for startups developing artificial-intelligence and drone systems. Beck’s departure extends a string of senior personnel changes at the Pentagon, which last week included the removals of the Defense Intelligence Agency chief, the head of the U.S. Naval Reserve and the commander of Naval Special Warfare Command. Separately, the State Department confirmed that Michael Anton, who leads its Policy Planning Staff and was influential in recent technical talks with Iran, intends to leave his post in the fall. The exit of two high-profile national-security officials underscores the Trump administration’s continuing reshuffle of its foreign-policy and defense teams.