Pentagon Awards Up to $200M to Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and xAI for National Security AI Projects
The U.S. Department of Defense announced Monday that it has awarded contracts worth up to $200 million to four major AI firms—Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and xAI—to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence systems aimed at addressing key national security needs.
These contracts, coordinated through the DoD’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, will support the creation of AI-powered agents designed for a variety of military and strategic mission areas.
Doug Matty, the department’s Chief Digital and AI Officer, emphasized the impact of the initiative, stating that the integration of AI is reshaping the military’s ability to support service members and maintain a technological edge over global adversaries.
As part of this effort, Elon Musk’s xAI has introduced “Grok for Government,” a tailored suite of AI tools accessible via the General Services Administration (GSA) schedule, allowing federal agencies to procure and deploy the technology.
The launch follows controversy surrounding Grok’s earlier offensive outputs, prompting xAI to update its chatbot and introduce government-specific services to regain trust.
Meanwhile, OpenAI, which was previously granted a $200 million one-year contract, has continued its collaboration with defense technology firm Anduril to build AI systems for national defense applications. In June, the company unveiled “OpenAI for Government,” offering AI services to federal, state, and local government entities.
