The concept of the “Global Brain” originally stemmed from philosophical and biological visions that combined technological evolution with human collective intelligence. French thinker Pierre Teilhard de Chardin once proposed the “Noosphere” theory, comparing the process of deeply interconnecting human society through communication networks and technological means to a planetary-scale brain or a “brain of brains.” Under this theoretical framework, human nodes, algorithmic systems, and information transmission chains worldwide are inextricably interwoven like neurons, driving the elevation of collective consciousness and intelligence.[1]

Today, with the breakthrough development of high-density satellite constellations, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, 5G/6G high-speed communication links, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) neural networks, this originally philosophical “Global Brain” is being fully realized and deeply integrated into the realm of military security. In modern military concepts, the “Global Brain” symbolizes the ultimate “Planetary Neural Network.”[2] This concept encompasses the following key dimensions:

The military version of the “Global Brain” will integrate sensors across all domains—land, sea, air, space, cyber, and electromagnetic (such as low-Earth orbit satellite swarms, high-altitude long-endurance drones, underwater sonar arrays, ground radar sensors, and even individual soldier detection gear)—into unified sensory neurons. Battlefield data will no longer remain in the isolated “memory” of individual combat units but will be instantly fed into an “all-domain data center.” Through automated algorithms for real-time feature extraction and target designation, the positions and dynamics of both enemy and friendly forces will become nearly transparent and visualized in real time across all domains.[3]

The “Global Brain” is not only a data collector but also a decision-making assistant and executor. The traditional military OODA loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) is limited by human instinctual reaction speeds and hierarchical command structures. However, with the integration of AI algorithms, the “Global Brain” can analyze massive amounts of tactical data in an extremely short time and autonomously pair targets with the most appropriate attack platforms, compressing the “sensor-to-shooter” cycle to a minimum and creating a reaction effect akin to an automated neural reflex.

The “Global Brain” will also expand the domain of military confrontation from physical space (the battlefield) to human cognitive space (the mind). Through AI algorithms controlling information flows, personalized public opinion guidance, and automated psychological warfare, military power can transform to directly influence the minds of the general population and the decision-making levels of an enemy nation. This helps achieve the goal of “subduing the enemy without fighting,” paralyzing the opponent’s will to fight before a large-scale conflict even occurs.

As the concepts and technologies of the “Global Brain” deeply penetrate future defense systems, they will bring unprecedented precision and efficiency to military operations and reshape the nature of modern warfare. However, they will also trigger severe security threats and strategic challenges:

In the face of an all-domain surveillance network featuring “Global Brain” characteristics, large high-value targets that traditionally symbolize the military might of major powers—such as aircraft carriers, fighter jets, heavy tanks, and large fixed command posts—will face the absolute predicament of having “nowhere to hide.” This battlefield reality of “exposure means targeting, and targeting means destruction” will lead to a severe asymmetry in combat effectiveness; that is, strategic platforms costing billions of dollars could be destroyed in a short time by extremely low-cost, distributed precision munitions.[4]

The key advantage of the “Global Brain” lies in its “high connectivity and distributed synergy,” but this is also one of its fatal vulnerabilities.[5] First, military neural networks will be highly interdependent. If the enemy uses powerful electronic jamming, strikes critical nodes, or injects malicious code, the “Global Brain” may experience cascading failures, causing all subordinate distributed units to lose their collaborative capabilities simultaneously. Second, when two opposing global military AI networks clash autonomously during a crisis, AI algorithms may trigger massive counterattacks based on preset defensive mechanisms before human decision-makers can even clarify the situation. This “algorithmic duel” could escalate regional friction into an uncontrollable all-domain conflict within seconds.

The “Global Brain” not only affects military forces but also integrates society into the operational domain via digital networks. Because algorithms can accurately grasp individual preferences, weaknesses, and psychological traits, they can be used to disseminate forged information, deepfakes, and personalized propaganda on a massive scale. Hostile forces can thus undermine a target country’s social trust, tear apart internal communities, and even manipulate democratic elections and military decision-making processes without firing a single shot, posing an insidious and profound threat to national security.[6]

The operational mechanisms of modern large language models and deep neural networks are highly opaque “black boxes.” Even model designers cannot accurately predict or describe their decision-making paths in extremely dynamic environments. If command authority over lethal autonomous weapon systems is delegated to the AI command and control modules of the “Global Brain,” any misjudgment that results in strikes on civilians or violations of international humanitarian law will create a severe crisis in accountability and moral responsibility.

To confront the disruptive impact of the “Global Brain” on traditional military systems, future national defense strategies, force structures, and technological developments must undergo continuous revision and reform. Future military development and response strategies should be structured around the following four key dimensions, which must be frequently reviewed and adjusted:

Future combat platforms must fully adapt to an environment where there is “nowhere to hide.” Defense budgets should adjust resource allocation, reduce reliance on a few traditional, high-unit-cost platforms, and shift toward a decentralized and highly redundant force structure.[7] For example, militaries should develop large-scale combat swarms consisting of drones, unmanned surface vehicles, and ground robots with self-organizing capabilities. These swarm systems do not rely on a single critical node; even if hundreds of nodes are destroyed, the remaining units can autonomously reorganize their network architecture to complete the mission, effectively countering the enemy’s strike efficiency.[8]

Since concealment in the physical space of the battlefield is extremely difficult, defensive operational thinking must shift toward proactive digital, electronic, and cognitive countermeasures against threats. For instance, forces can utilize advanced active electronic jamming, simulate heat sources, and deploy a massive number of cheap decoy targets to generate huge volumes of false tactical data. This proactively overwhelms the algorithmic modules of the enemy’s “Global Brain,” preventing their AI from identifying and prioritizing actual targets due to data overload or signal confusion. Additionally, establishing microwave, laser, and quantum communication backup links with high anti-jamming capabilities, alongside promoting a “Zero Trust” military network architecture, will ensure that regional combat systems can still operate autonomously as offline units even if parts of the neural network are infiltrated or cut off.

In the face of the ultra-fast reaction capabilities of the enemy’s “Global Brain,” we must strike an optimal balance between decision-making speed and security. Within this framework, AI should be utilized as an auxiliary system for human commanders, tasked with pattern matching and course-of-action formulation across massive datasets, while human commanders focus on judging strategic intent, safeguarding moral red lines, and authorizing key decisions. This forms a hybrid command architecture that combines AI-driven ultra-high speed and human prudence. Furthermore, regarding AI algorithmic security, defense technology departments must establish rigorous AI modeling, simulation, and wargaming mechanisms. Conducting adversarial testing and validation on the neural network modules adopted by the armed forces will effectively train systems and prevent AI from experiencing logical confusion or being manipulated by the enemy in extreme battlefield environments.

The disorderly expansion of technology in warfare could expose human civilization to irreversible, catastrophic risks. Nations must seek consensus amidst competition and establish a strategic ethical framework for the militarization of the “Global Brain.” This includes clearly stipulating legal regulations for “Human-in-the-Loop” operations and promoting international treaties that strictly prohibit granting fully automated AI systems the authority to autonomously launch nuclear weapons or execute strikes with weapons of mass destruction, ensuring that the ultimate decision-making power for the highest level of strategic strikes always remains in human hands. Moreover, regarding cyber and cognitive warfare, international legal frameworks must be promoted to address the use of the “Global Brain” for transnational deepfake propaganda and algorithmic attacks on infrastructure, limiting military confrontation to a controllable scope and preventing cognitive warfare from escalating into all-domain catastrophic warfare.

As demonstrated by the joint US-Israeli operation on February 28th of this year—which utilized AI systems to strike thousands of Iranian military targets in a short timeframe—the birth and militarization of the “Global Brain” is an irreversible reality. This is possible to represent the most critical transformation in the character of human warfare since the Industrial Revolution.

The battlefield is no longer a physical space of traditional steel and firepower clashes, but a massive digital organism interwoven with an immense number of sensors, high-speed data links, and AI algorithms. In a new era of all-domain transparency and ultra-fast engagement, traditional large and heavy platforms will face a severe survival crisis. The key to national security no longer depends on how many traditional, heavy weapons a country possesses, but on the resilience of its neural networks, the superiority of its algorithms, the coordination capabilities of distributed unmanned swarms, and its capacity for information deception and cognitive defense in extreme, high-pressure battlefield environments. Our national defense system must proactively carry out reforms and establish a new strategic architecture characterized by “manned-unmanned teaming, distributed flexibility, and decentralization” to remain invincible on the evolving battlefields of the future.