Bennett: "My goal is that by 2030, Israel will be among the top three countries in AI globally"

It's impossible to start a conversation about AI these days without first wondering, are we in the midst of a bubble?

"Strategically it's not a bubble. Tactically, there may be some bubbliness, but AI is truly a game changer for every dimension of life, and we are at a turning point in human history. AI will dramatically change the composition of employment, the pace of innovation, materials, medicine, in short, everything. Of course, tactically there are certain companies that may be in a bubble, but I was the CEO of a startup during the previous bubble, and it's not the same. Back then, there were companies with zero demand for their products. Today there is excess demand, and although there are questions about monetizing that demand, it's really not a bubble."

For Israeli high-tech, is the AI revolution more of an opportunity or a threat? Right now, we have almost no large modeling companies (LLMs). Maybe we missed this train?

"This is a huge opportunity. But yes, Israel has fallen asleep at its post. We don't have Anthropic or OpenAI here. In general, the government has been very busy chasing sections of the military service exemption law instead of pursuing AI and quantum technologies that are reshaping the world. But even without local model companies, it's not the end of the world. Israel can and must excel in the other layers of the revolution, especially in applications. We don't have the trillions of dollars required to train frontier models, but we have an abundance of entrepreneurs and human capital at the highest level. We can become an AI powerhouse. My goal is that by 2030, Israel will be among the top three countries in AI globally."

This is a strong statement, it implies Israel would be third only after the U.S. and China. Do you have a plan to realize this vision?

"In the past year, I sat with dozens of experts in Israel and abroad, and we built a plan. Its first pillar is a revolution in education. Today, children are told, ‘Don’t touch ChatGPT when doing homework,’ but I say the opposite. We shouldn’t fight progress; we should embrace it. AI won’t defeat humans, but people who know how to use AI will outperform those who don’t.

"We need to weave AI into the education system and give tools to both students and teachers. I see it with my son, who’s in eighth grade. He doesn’t like studying, like most Israeli children. But when I challenge him to create a new app or some AI-based project, he flourishes. He can sit for hours and develop.

"AI can also be a partial solution to the huge shortage of teaching staff. In some ways, artificial intelligence is the perfect teacher: it knows every child’s status, their difficulties, and can offer multiple ways to solve each exercise. This is exactly ‘educating a child according to their path.’ The AI revolution should have been introduced into the education system yesterday.

"The other major trend is the integration of AI into the defense sector, and here Israel has a tremendous opportunity. We did not choose our wars, but we have fought on many fronts, with every type of warfare: urban, open terrain in Lebanon, and long-distance conflict with Iran. Every few months I call the heads of Israel’s defense industries and tell them Israel must lead. Where there is no need to send soldiers, don’t send them. Beyond that, this is an opportunity worth hundreds of billions of dollars, maybe even trillions."

We see the global AI arms race, not only in defense, but in Israel there is a feeling that nothing is progressing at the government level.

"All this success depends on a change in national leadership. Good, professional leadership can allow Israeli high-tech to take off. Once we launch the 100-day plan, with working groups in the economy, security, education, agriculture, and settlement, we can move Israel forward very quickly. The advantage of serving as prime minister a second time is that there’s no homework. You come prepared."

Will you bring high-tech people to Jerusalem if you return to power? Why are most still reluctant to enter politics? After all, it can't be harder than founding a startup.

"The government bureaucracy discourages people, and I understand that. I made the transition from high-tech to politics after the Second Lebanon War. I had just sold my company in a major exit, and I did it because I saw how much the public paid for leadership failures. It’s even more true today. That’s why I call on good people to enter politics. Politics is difficult, but it's sacred, if you do it for the State of Israel."

Do you have a tip for hesitant high-tech people?

"When young people come to me unsure, I send them to the private sector first. Gain experience in a results-based environment. Today, I'm not sure anyone in government has ever issued an invoice or knows what a profit-and-loss statement is. Run a country like that, and this is what you get. Later, once you've made an exit and are financially independent, you can enter politics without owing anything to anyone. I'm almost insulted that I've never even been offered a bribe, because I entered politics after multiple exits. That way, I can act only for the State of Israel, without constraints."

If we touch on elections, this will be the first cycle in an era where AI is available to everyone, opening the door to widespread fakery. How will voters distinguish real from fake?

"The broad use of AI, including deepfakes, is very dangerous. You can plant words in someone's mouth. I expect the Central Election Committee to warn parties in advance against illegal uses and to monitor in real time. If such a video emerges, the Committee must immediately declare it fake. Democracy is based on majority votingת but majority voting depends on access to information and the ability to distinguish truth from lies. Once you undermine that foundation, democracy collapses. We must be vigilant."