Google negotiates Pentagon deal to deploy Gemini AI in classified military environments

Google and Pentagon in talks to run custom AI chips inside classified environments -- Google pushes for tight controls for TPUs surrounding use for mass surveillance and autonomous weapons

Google Distributed Cloud has held IL6 and Top Secret accreditation since last year. Google is reportedly negotiating with the U.S. Department of Defense to deploy Gemini in classified settings, with the talks covering the addition of GPU racks to Google Distributed Cloud and a first-time deployment of Google's tensor processing unit (TPU) inside accredited classified environments, according to a report published today by The Information, citing two people with direct knowledge of the discussions. Google Distributed Cloud picked up DoD Impact Level 6 authorization for Secret classified data in May 2025, sitting alongside an existing Top Secret authorization that nominally makes Gemini and Vertex AI available at those classification levels. But relatively little infrastructure exists inside the accredited boundary to run classified workloads at scale, according to The Information's source, and closing that gap is part of the current conversation. In the short term, that means adding racks of GPUs to Google Distributed Cloud. A parallel workstream covers enabling TPUs, Google's custom AI accelerators, inside classified environments, which hasn't been done before, according to the same sources. TPUs run the bulk of Gemini training and inference in Google's commercial cloud, making their deployment on the classified side the natural step for any Gemini rollout beyond small-scale pilots. The proposed contract would let the Pentagon use Gemini for "all lawful purposes," with Google pushing for language prohibiting domestic mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons without appropriate human oversight. Those terms mirror the agreement OpenAI struck with the Pentagon earlier this year, which OpenAI CEO Sam Altman asked the Pentagon to extend to all AI vendors on the same terms. Those two issues broke the Pentagon's negotiations with Anthropic in February. After Anthropic declined to drop the restrictions, the Pentagon designated the company a supply chain risk and began a six-month phase-out of Claude from government systems, a designation a federal judge has since called "Orwellian" while declining to stay the ruling in one of Anthropic's two ongoing lawsuits. Google holds roughly 14% of the total cloud market against 28% for AWS and 21% for Microsoft as of late 2025, per Synergy Research Group, and the gap widens on the classified side, where both rivals run substantial workloads, and Google doesn't. Google Public Sector, the division running the DoD talks, targeted roughly $6 billion in bookings for 2025 through 2027, $2 billion of it from defense, according to an internal strategic plan that The Information reports having seen. Google lost last year's Army Next Generation Command and Control bid, but in July, it won a DoD AI pilot contract worth up to $200 million alongside Anthropic, OpenAI, and xAI. Gemini was the first model added to the Pentagon's unclassified GenAI.mil platform in December, and Google announced a separate deal last month for AI agent tooling on unclassified networks. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.

Google, Pentagon discuss classified AI deal, the Information reports

April 16 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab is negotiating an agreement with the Department of Defense that would allow the Pentagon to deploy its Gemini AI models in classified settings, the Information reported on Thursday, citing two people with direct knowledge of the discussions. The two parties are discussing an ⁠agreement that would allow the Pentagon to use Google's AI for all lawful uses, according to the report. During the negotiations, Google has proposed additional language in its contract with the department to prevent its AI from being used for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons without ⁠appropriate human control, the Information reported. Alphabet and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. A deal with the Pentagon will help Alphabet ⁠expand its government ties, while the U.S. aggressively embeds artificial intelligence into its processes to reduce costs ⁠and speed up administrative work. U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the department to rename ⁠itself the Department of War, a change that will require action by Congress. Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Google reportedly in talks with Pentagon over classified use of Gemini AI models

Google is in talks with the US Department of Defense that would allow the Pentagon to use the company's Gemini AI models for classified purposes, according to The Information. If the deal comes to fruition, it could represent a deepening of ties between Google and the Pentagon, which is seeking AI partners after its falling out with Anthropic in recent months. People with knowledge of the discussions told the publication that progress has been made toward a deal. The negotiations have reportedly included Google's proposal of language in the contract preventing its AI models from being deployed for autonomous weapons and domestic mass surveillance without human oversight. This was the heart of the disagreement between Anthropic and the Pentagon, and it remains unclear whether Google's terms will ultimately appear in the final agreement. The Information reported that the current discussions build upon a previous agreement between the Pentagon and Google -- struck last November -- for the US military to use its AI models for all lawful purposes, though that agreement was for unclassified settings only. Google Distributed Cloud, a secure cloud product, can be used for the Department of Defense's classified work, although its current computing capacity is limited. As a result, the recent conversations between the tech giant and the US military reportedly include increasing compute capacity for the Pentagon's classified work. This may include running tensor processing units (TPUs) -- chips developed by Google for neural network machine learning -- for classified uses for the first time. Racks of GPUs could also be added to Google Distributed Cloud in the short term. Google's new stance on military cooperation This marks a departure from Google's past resistance to military contracts. In 2018, Google decided not to renew a contract with the Pentagon after thousands of its employees voiced their opposition to the company's involvement in Project Maven. Initially focused on processing images and videos for intelligence gathering, Project Maven has since been expanded to help drones identify potential military targets. At the time, thousands of Google employees signed an open letter opposing the Pentagon partnership, which they feared could be the start of using AI for lethal purposes. Despite seeing the military contract as a significant opportunity, Google's leadership was also concerned about public backlash and ended the partnership. The company has gradually reversed its stance since then. In 2022, Google Cloud set up a division to sell its products to public sector customers, including federal, state, and local government and education systems. Called Google Public Sector, Google hired former government workers and contractors, including military veterans, to staff the new unit. Yet this unit still accounts for a tiny fraction of Google's overall business. The Information reported that Google Public Sector aimed to grow its sales and contracts to US$6 billion by 2027, far smaller than the over US$400 billion in revenue Google generated in 2025. It also faces formidable competition from other cloud vendors. Data from the TBR Insight Center shows that Microsoft, Oracle, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have been awarded virtually all hyperscaler contracts from the US government. While Oracle and Microsoft obtained the largest shares of awards due to license and support contracts, AWS has seen a rise in defense-related contracts since 2024. An alternative to Anthropic? Google's negotiations with the Pentagon follow the conflict that erupted between Anthropic and the US military earlier this year. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei had raised concerns about restrictions on its models being used for mass domestic surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons by the military, which had integrated Anthropic's Claude models since 2024. After the dispute became public and both sides failed to reach an agreement, the US government designated Anthropic as a "supply chain risk" and initiated a six-month phase-out period for its models from the Pentagon and military contractors. Since then, Anthropic has filed two lawsuits against the US military over this designation, with one judge deciding in the company's favor while the other has yet to be concluded, according to Reuters. In the meantime, the Pentagon has held talks with Anthropic's rival OpenAI In the meantime, the Pentagon has held talks with Anthropic's rival, OpenAI, for a deal to use its AI models. OpenAI's contract appears to include the same restrictions on mass domestic surveillance and lethal autonomous weapons that Anthropic had pressed for, though the company agreed that its AI models could be used for "all lawful purposes." TechCrunch reported that a number of Google and OpenAI employees signed an open letter in February urging their companies to support Anthropic in its fight with the Pentagon. The letter called on their companies' leadership to uphold the boundaries that Anthropic had set; at the time, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had also voiced concerns to the media about the US government's actions against the AI company.