WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2016 — Defense Department officials announced today that Defense Secretary Ash Carter will travel to Northern California and Texas, Sept. 12-14, to continue advancing one of his top priorities: building and rebuilding bridges between the Pentagon and America’s innovative technology sector.

On Sept. 12, Carter will return to Silicon Valley, California, home of the Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental, or DIUx, the news release said. The defense secretary launched DIUx last year and updated the organization in May to maximize its agility and effectiveness in putting commercial innovation into the hands of America's men and women in uniform. Carter also opened a DIUx office in Boston at the end of July.

During his visit to Silicon Valley, Carter will meet with DIUx staff and host a roundtable focused on the future of work and the Force of the Future, the release said. He will then travel to the San Francisco headquarters of nonprofit artificial intelligence research company OpenAI, where he will meet with artificial intelligence researchers who will brief him on the potential applications and implications of their work.

On Sept. 13, the defense secretary will attend the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, the release said. Carter will participate in a fireside chat with TechCrunch senior editor Matt Burns to discuss innovation and his vision for DoD’s future in a session entitled "Redefining Defense."

The defense secretary will then participate in a recruiting event with the United States Digital Service and the Defense Digital Service, where he will speak with candidates interested in applying their technical expertise to the mission of national defense.

Carter will then fly to Austin, Texas, the release said. On Sept. 14, he will deliver remarks at the Capital Factory technology incubator regarding innovation, and will provide an update on DIUx activities.