The Pentagon reported a rapid increase in AI tool usage across the Department of Defense, but also acknowledged that adoption still trails policy expectations. Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael said commercial AI use rose from 80,000 personnel as of December 2025 to 1.5 million personnel in the current month, out of an estimated 3.5 million total agency employees—placing usage at roughly 43%. The article frames the update as a check against past promises of AI-driven efficiency, noting that skepticism remains about whether AI work products are improving outcomes or simply increasing throughput. It also points to uneven adoption patterns that mirror common enterprise challenges: tools spread faster than governance and training. It adds that federal AI deployment has grown through Office of Management and Budget disclosures of thousands of active or planned use cases, including systems supporting security screening and other operational decisions. For higher education, the defense department’s approach is relevant to campus AI governance discussions—especially around training, risk controls, and workforce readiness—because universities are rapidly asked to support AI-literate graduates while managing institutional compliance and security.