Schmidt students travel to Texas for AI+ Autonomy exchange and tour of rare-earth facility

Students and faculty from the Jackson School’s Schmidt Program on AI, Emerging Technologies, and National Power participated in the Special Competitive Studies Project’s fifth Exchange on AI and Autonomy for National Security in Austin, Texas, in September 2025. They also traveled to Fort Worth to tour MP Materials, the groundbreaking company founded by Yale alumnus James Litinsky that is leading America’s strategic sprint to eliminate foreign dependence in rare earth magnetics.

The SCSP Exchange featured panels on the role of AI in national defense across the maritime, ground, aerial, cyber, and space domains. Key speakers included Eric Schmidt (SCSP Chair), General James Rainey (Army Futures Command), Craig Martell (Lockheed Martin), Alex Miller (U.S. Army CTO), and Tarun Chhabra (Head of National Security Policy, Anthropic), alongside industry leaders from Northrop Grumman, Skydio, Auterion, Scale AI, and the University of Texas.

“The Exchange is a living prototype for American national strategic integration,” said Anthony Costanzo MPP ’27. “During our visit, we witnessed stakeholders tackling the full spectrum of challenges facing American innovation, from procurement reform to developing autonomy at scale.”

The next day, the delegation visited MP Materials to discuss the company’s strategy to build an entire rare earth supply chain independent of China—from mining and processing to manufacturing strong and efficient permanent magnets. Chairman and CEO Litinsky underscored the central role of rare earth magnet manufacturing in powering innovation across critical economic sectors including transportation, energy, robotics, defense and aerospace. During the guided factory tour, the delegation saw how MP Materials’ full vertical integration restores supply chain resilience, brings industry back to American soil, and advances the frontier of AI-enabled materials science.

Jackson School Marine Corps Fellow LtCol. Timothy Riemann, who is also taking the Schmidt Program’s signature yearlong course, remarked, “I’m extremely impressed and excited to see an American company committed to American national security. The American industrial base will unquestionably be a critical factor in any future conflicts, and I am glad to see MP Materials taking massive steps to protect our nation’s critical supply chains.”

“Rare earth minerals are central to America’s overall AI innovation ecosystem,” said Ted Wittenstein, executive director of the Schmidt Program. “Our visit underscored for students how global technology competition with China extends to the U.S. heartland, and how Texas in particular has emerged as a critical hub for heavy magnet manufacturing and cutting-edge defense technologies.”