Pentagon Awards $800 Million in AI Contracts to Tech Giants, Signaling Shift in Defense Strategy

The DoD has a new AI strategy: Let the private sector do it

The Pentagon's embrace of the AI industry just put up to $800 million on the table as the Department of Defense has issued a quartet of contracts bringing the biggest names in the biz officially into the fold. The Pentagon's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) today announced contracts with Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and xAI to help it use artificial intelligence for a multitude of military purposes - each with a $200 million ceiling. The four firms contracted for the work are all behind AI models the DoD believes have game-changing defense applications. The Pentagon appears particularly eager to pursue agentic AI, mentioning in the announcement that it hopes to use the skills of AI experts at the four firms "to develop agentic AI workflows across a variety of mission areas." The DoD hopes the early experiments will help it understand how to apply AI for its purposes, while the four firms will also be asked "to understand and address critical national security needs." "Leveraging commercially available solutions into an integrated capabilities approach will accelerate the use of advanced AI as part of our Joint mission essential tasks," said CDAO Chief Digital and AI Officer Doug Matty. While the benefits for the four contractors are fairly obvious, the DoD is also getting a good deal, it thinks. America's military is getting access to Google's newest AI models, for example, and the Chocolate Factory is also offering the Pentagon access to Google infrastructure around the country. Anthropic, meanwhile, said that it will be helping the military identify the best AI use cases and developing models tuned on DoD data, identifying and mitigating adversarial uses of AI, and working to "prototype frontier AI capabilities that advance US national security." Anthropic did note that its multi-million-dollar contract with the DoD is for two years, answering one of several questions we asked that the Pentagon declined to answer. xAI, meanwhile, only noted the contract along with a deal that now sees its products available for purchase by the US via the General Services Administration, meaning they're generally available across the federal government. While mentioned in the CDAO press release, OpenAI has had its own $200 million DoD frontier AI deal since last month, when the DoD announced a pilot program to see the ChatGPT maker develop unspecified frontier AI products for the Pentagon. OpenAI confirmed to The Register that the $200 million announcement it shared in June is the same award as its June one, making this more of an expansion to the earlier announcement than a new deal for the company. To sum it all up, it looks like employees can protest defense contracts all they want, and companies can insist they don't want to be involved in defense work, but at the end of the day, it's pretty tough to resist Uncle Sam's money and all that sweet, sweet data. Welcome to the military industrial complex, folks. ®

US Department of Defense awards contracts to Google, xAI

July 14 (Reuters) - OpenAI, Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab, Anthropic and Elon Musk's AI firm xAI have won contracts aimed at scaling up adoption of advanced AI capabilities in the U.S. Department of Defense, the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office said on Monday. Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Autos & Transportation * ADAS, AV & Safety * Software-Defined Vehicle * Sustainable & EV Supply Chain

Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI granted up to $200 million for AI work from Defense Department

The DoD's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office said the awards will help the agency accelerate its adoption of "advanced AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges." The companies will work to develop AI agents across several mission areas at the agency. "The adoption of AI is transforming the Department's ability to support our warfighters and maintain strategic advantage over our adversaries," Doug Matty, the DoD's chief digital and AI officer, said in a release. Elon Musk's xAI also announced Grok for Government on Monday, which is a suite of products that make the company's models available to U.S. government customers. The products are available through the General Services Administration (GSA) schedule, which allows federal government departments, agencies, or offices to purchase them, according to a post on X. OpenAI was previously awarded a year-long $200 million contract from the DoD in 2024, shortly after it said it would collaborate with defense technology startup Anduril to deploy advanced AI systems for "national security missions." In June, the company launched OpenAI for Government for U.S. federal, state, and local government workers.

US government is giving leading AI companies a bunch of cash for military applications

This will " support warfighters and maintain strategic advantage over our adversaries." The US Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) is handing out millions of dollars to the leading AI companies to develop military applications. Each of these "awards" are worth up to $200 million, with Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI on the receiving end. The agency notes that this money will be used to "develop agentic AI workflows across a variety of mission areas." In other words, this is primarily for military applications. A press release says the move will "broaden" the Department of Defense's use of AI to "address critical national security needs." "The adoption of AI is transforming the department's ability to support our warfighters and maintain strategic advantage over our adversaries," said Chief Digital and AI Officer Dr. Doug Matty. He went on to say that this will "accelerate the use of advanced AI" in the "warfighting domain." As part of this effort, CDAO will be providing access to the latest generative AI models to "Combatant Commands, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Staff." For the uninitiated, CDAO is an arm of the Department of Defense that was created in 2022. The stated mission is to accelerate the department's "adoption of data, analytics and artificial intelligence from the boardroom to the battlefield." It's worth noting that xAI is one of the companies receiving government largesse. This news comes on the same day the company started offering a . It comes less than a week after Grok went totally off the rails and , referring to itself as "MechaHitler." It's also a fascinating development because the relationship between xAI CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump . Trump has been threatening to cut Musk's companies off from government subsidies, but it looks like that threat has no teeth given today's announcement.

Elon Musk's xAI bags $200M Pentagon contract for Grok AI rollout

Grok 4, xAI's latest model, will anchor the offering. The company claims it outperforms rivals on key benchmarks and promises features such as Deep Search, tool integration, and custom models for national security and critical science applications. It also says it will deploy engineers with government-level security clearances. The Pentagon emphasized that the move represents a shift toward commercial-first AI adoption. "Leveraging commercially available solutions into an integrated capabilities approach will accelerate the use of advanced AI," said Dr. Doug Matty, Chief Digital and AI Officer at the Department of Defense. The announcement follows a string of similar partnerships across Silicon Valley. Anthropic teamed up with Palantir to bring Claude to intelligence agencies. OpenAI launched "OpenAI for Government" after lifting its ban on military use. Meta also revised its Llama model licensing to permit defense applications. The federal embrace of xAI comes amid renewed scrutiny of Grok's behavior and output. In recent weeks, xAI's chatbot was found to be pulling opinions directly from Elon Musk's own posts on X, even when his name wasn't mentioned in the prompts. This blending of source and system raised questions about objectivity and bias.

Musk's xAI announces $200 million contract with Pentagon

* As part of that goal, the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, which sets AI standards for the Defense Department, also announced awards Monday to Anthropic, Google and OpenAI. Driving the news: xAI said Monday that it secured the new contract with the Defense Department alongside its products being available to purchase. * "This allows every federal government department, agency, or office, to access xAI's frontier AI products," the company said. Zoom in: Its flagship AI model, Grok, also launched a suite of products available to the U.S. government. * "Under the umbrella of Grok For Government, we will be bringing all of our world-class AI tools to federal, local, state, and national security customers," the company said. * "These customers will be able to use the Grok family of products to accelerate America -- from making everyday government services faster and more efficient to using AI to address unsolved problems in fundamental science and technology." What they're saying: Douglas Matty, chief digital and AI officer at the Defense Department, said in a statement that the adoption of AI is "transforming the Department's ability to support our warfighters and maintain strategic advantage over our adversaries." * He added, "Leveraging commercially available solutions into an integrated capabilities approach will accelerate the use of advanced AI as part of our Joint mission essential tasks in our warfighting domain as well as intelligence, business, and enterprise information systems." The Pentagon and the White House did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI granted up to $200 million for AI work from Defense Department

The U.S. Department of Defense on Monday said it's granting contract awards of up to $200 million for artificial intelligence development at Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI. The DoD's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office said the awards will help the agency accelerate its adoption of "advanced AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges." The companies will work to develop AI agents across several mission areas at the agency. "The adoption of AI is transforming the Department's ability to support our warfighters and maintain strategic advantage over our adversaries," Doug Matty, the DoD's chief digital and AI officer, said in a release. Elon Musk's xAI also announced Grok for Government on Monday, which is a suite of products that make the company's models available to U.S. government customers. The products are available through the General Services Administration (GSA) schedule, which allows federal government departments, agencies, or offices to purchase them, according to a post on X. OpenAI was previously awarded a year-long $200 million contract from the DoD in 2024, shortly after it said it would collaborate with defense technology startup Anduril to deploy advanced AI systems for "national security missions."

Pentagon aims to bolster national security with major investments in US AI firms - SiliconANGLE

Pentagon aims to bolster national security with major investments in US AI firms The U.S. Department of Defense today announced new contracts with top artificial intelligence firms in the U.S. in an effort to streamline AI's move into military applications. Contracts of up to $200 million will be granted to Google LLC, OpenAI, Anthropic PBC and, perhaps more surprisingly, Elon Musk's xAI, whose Grok chatbot recently made headlines when it fell into hot water for promoting Nazi ideology. The DOD said each of the awards will address critical national security challenges. "Establishing these partnerships will broaden DoD use of and experience in frontier AI capabilities and increase the ability of these companies to understand and address critical national security needs with the most advanced AI capabilities U.S. industry has to offer," the department explained in a press release. The inclusion of xAI will perhaps raise some eyebrows, given the recent controversy over Grok's seeming transformation into a quasi-fascist -- apparently a result of engineers taking Musk's anti-woke strategy a little too far. Moreover, it was only two weeks ago since President Trump was leveling threats at Musk, musing on his deportation after the two former allies had a well-publicized and somewhat confounding spat. Today, xAI announced "Grok for Government," which it called "a suite of products that make our frontier models available to United States Government customers." This includes the DOD contract, as well as partnerships with other government departments, including the General Services Administration. "Under the umbrella of Grok For Government, we will be bringing all of our world-class AI tools to federal, local, state, and national security customers," the company said in a press release. "These customers will be able to use the Grok family of products to accelerate America, from making everyday government services faster and more efficient to using AI to address unsolved problems in fundamental science and technology." OpenAI's inclusion doesn't come as much of a surprise, with the company already working with the DOD to build AI for military applications, the two announcing a contract worth up to $200 million in June. Meta Platforms Inc., though left out of the new partnerships, is already working with the defense technology startup Anduril Industries Inc. to develop wearable devices for the U.S. military. "The adoption of AI is transforming the Department's ability to support our warfighters and maintain strategic advantage over our adversaries," said DOD Chief Digital and AI Officer Dr. Doug Matty. "Leveraging commercially available solutions into an integrated capabilities approach will accelerate the use of advanced AI as part of our Joint mission essential tasks in our warfighting domain as well as intelligence, business, and enterprise information systems."

Pentagon Awards OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI Contracts Worth $200 Bn | AIM

The US defence department has awarded the companies contracts to enhance its integration of AI technologies for government missions. The Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) has awarded contracts to OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Elon Musk's xAI, each valued at up to $200 million. This will enhance the integration of advanced AI technologies within the US Department of Defence (DoD), as announced by the government agency on July 15. According to the release, this initiative will enable the department to utilise US frontier AI companies to create advanced AI workflows for various missions. By forming these partnerships, the DoD will enhance its capabilities and enable these companies to address critical national security needs more effectively. The chief digital and AI officer, Doug Matty, said, "Leveraging commercially available solutions into an integrated capabilities approach will accelerate the use of advanced AI as part of our Joint mission essential tasks in our warfighting domain as well as intelligence, business, and enterprise information systems." The CDAO is providing access to the latest generative AI models for combatant commands, the office of the defence secretary, and the joint staff through the army's enterprise LLM workspace, powered by Ask Sage. Broader access is also available via embedded AI models in DoD platforms, such as Advana, Maven Smart System, and Edge Data Mesh nodes, which integrate AI into existing workflows. Additionally, the DoD is partnering with the general services administration (GSA) to leverage government buying power for AI technologies and resources. US government agencies have been increasing their reliance on AI, following a directive from the White House in April that encouraged the integration of AI. President Donald Trump has also taken steps to ease regulations on technology by undoing a 2023 executive order from the Biden administration, which aimed to mitigate AI risks through compulsory data disclosures.

Pentagon Awards OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI Contracts Worth $200 Mn | AIM

The US defence department has awarded the companies contracts to enhance its integration of AI technologies for government missions. The Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) has awarded contracts to OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Elon Musk's xAI, each valued at up to $200 million. This will enhance the integration of advanced AI technologies within the US Department of Defence (DoD), as announced by the government agency on July 15. According to the release, this initiative will enable the department to utilise US frontier AI companies to create advanced AI workflows for various missions. By forming these partnerships, the DoD will enhance its capabilities and enable these companies to address critical national security needs more effectively. The chief digital and AI officer, Doug Matty, said, "Leveraging commercially available solutions into an integrated capabilities approach will accelerate the use of advanced AI as part of our Joint mission essential tasks in our warfighting domain as well as intelligence, business, and enterprise information systems." The CDAO is providing access to the latest generative AI models for combatant commands, the office of the defence secretary, and the joint staff through the army's enterprise LLM workspace, powered by Ask Sage. Broader access is also available via embedded AI models in DoD platforms, such as Advana, Maven Smart System, and Edge Data Mesh nodes, which integrate AI into existing workflows. Additionally, the DoD is partnering with the general services administration (GSA) to leverage government buying power for AI technologies and resources. US government agencies have been increasing their reliance on AI, following a directive from the White House in April that encouraged the integration of AI. President Donald Trump has also taken steps to ease regulations on technology by undoing a 2023 executive order from the Biden administration, which aimed to mitigate AI risks through compulsory data disclosures.

xAI scores Pentagon contract

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI has scored a contract for up to $200 million with the Department of Defense alongside three other major tech firms, the Pentagon announced Monday. xAI, Anthropic, Google and OpenAI all received contracts with the same ceiling from the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office to help boost the agency's adoption of advanced AI, according to a press release. "The adoption of AI is transforming the Department's ability to support our warfighters and maintain strategic advantage over our adversaries," Doug Matty, the Defense Department's chief digital and AI officer, said in a statement. The announcement comes the same day xAI unveiled a suite of AI products for U.S. government customers, which it refers to as Grok for Government. xAI noted that its products will also be available to the rest of the federal government for purchase via the General Services Administration schedule. "America is the world leader in AI, and this is in no small part due to a tradition of innovation and strong investments in engineering and science," the company wrote in a news release Monday. "We're excited to contribute back to the country that made xAI uniquely possible here." The contract follows a week of controversy for Musk's AI firm, after an update caused its chatbot Grok to produce antisemitic responses. xAI ultimately deleted numerous incendiary posts and offered an apology for the chatbot's "horrific behavior" over the weekend. It suggested the "root cause" of the problem was "an update to a code path upstream" of the chatbot that was "independent of the underlying language model that powers @grok." After xAI unveiled the newest version of its AI model, Grok 4, last week, users also noticed that it appeared to reference Musk's views when responding to more controversial inquiries. Grok 4 is among the suite of products available to government customers.