Former Google chief Schmidt departs as head of Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Board

Eric Schmidt, the former chief executive of Google, has stepped down as the first chairman of the Defense Innovation Board, where he provided a key bridge between the Defense Department and the technology community and helped advance initiatives in areas like artificial intelligence and agile software development.

Former Sierra Nevada Corp. executive Mark Sirangelo will take over as head of the influential panel and he announced the news during the board’s virtual meeting on Tuesday. He said Schmidt and several...