Eric Schmidt New Gig With Pentagon

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Eric Schmidt will chair a Defense Department advisory board - Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt will chair a new advisory board for the Department of Defense, according to a statement from the department released today. The Defense Innovation Advisory Board will comprise up to 12 people from the private sector, meant to use their expertise to find "quick solutions to DoD problems."

The board members have yet to be found, the department writes, but will be selected by Schmidt and Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. All will be "individuals who have successfully led large private and public organizations, and excelled at identifying and adopting new technology concepts."

The Department of Defense has been noticeably interested lately in courting help from the private technology industry. The State Department, meanwhile, has reportedly asked Silicon Valley executives for a critique of the government's anti-ISIS propaganda programs, and Hillary Clinton recently went so far as to ask Silicon Valley to help "disrupt ISIS."

But front and center is still the dispute between Apple and the FBI over cracking security on an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters. Yesterday, both sides of the debate appeared before a House committee to make their cases.