A general view of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 21, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
The head of a Pentagon unit responsible for accelerating the military’s adoption of new technology resigned on Monday, according to four people familiar with the matter, the latest exit of a senior military official whose political views have clashed with those of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Doug Beck, director of the Silicon Valley-based Defense Innovation Unit, told staff in an email that he was stepping down, the people said. He did not provide a reason for his departure in the email, but wrote that working at the DIU was “basically the greatest honor of my life,” according to a person with direct knowledge of the email.
He wrote that the DIU will be transitioned to new leadership overseen by Emil Michael, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. “I will help, however I can from my private capacity,” added Beck, according to the source.
Three of the sources said officials at the Department of Defense had previously raised concerns about political donations made by Beck to Democrats.
The DIU declined to comment. The Pentagon did not respond to a comment request. Reuters was unable to immediately reach Beck for comment.
Beck’s departure is the latest high-profile exit from the Pentagon. Last week, the chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency, head of the U.S. Naval Reserve and the commander of Naval Special Warfare Command were removed by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Reuters previously reported.
Beck’s departure comes at a crucial moment for the DIU, which collaborates with military technology firms developing drones and AI-driven weapons. These account for a growing share of the Pentagon’s spending and are reshaping modern warfare.
The DIU was launched in 2015 to speed up the U.S. military’s adoption of technology coming out of Silicon Valley. The unit, which last year received close to $1 billion from the National Defense Authorization Act, primarily grants contracts to smaller startup companies with less-proven track records with the goal of transitioning them to larger contracts across the Pentagon.
Beck, a special operations veteran who previously held top roles at McKinsey, Charles Schwab and Apple, was appointed director of DIU in 2023 by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. He oversaw the DIU’s embrace of autonomous technology, and its role in spearheading the Replicator initiative, which aims to acquire thousands of autonomous aerial and maritime drones to combat China.
