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NATO defense ministers are meeting in Belgium to chart the course for the alliance as it modernizes and adapts to a world dominated by strategic competition, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a news conference in Brussels today. 

The alliance must maintain the technological edge over any competitor, he said. This is the first in-person defense ministerial since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III is attending the two-day meeting.

"We must keep our technological edge," Stoltenberg said. "Future conflicts will be fought not just with bullets and bombs, but also with bytes and big data. We see authoritarian regimes racing to develop new technologies — from artificial intelligence to autonomous systems. So, we are taking further steps to 'future-proof' our alliance."

Stoltenberg announced that the alliance will launch the NATO Innovation Fund at the ministerial. The fund will have over a billion dollars to support the development of dual-use emerging and disruptive technologies, in key areas for allied security.