The US Department of Defense has announced new contracts with major technology companies, including Google, OpenAI, Amazon, Microsoft, SpaceX, Oracle, Nvidia, and Reflection, to accelerate the integration of artificial intelligence across military operations. The Pentagon declared its intent to transform the US military into an "AI-first fighting force," leveraging AI for any lawful operational use.
Notably absent from the list is Anthropic, which has expressed concerns about how its tools might be used in warfare and domestic surveillance. Anthropic is currently suing the government over alleged retaliation after it refused to accept "any lawful use" language in its contract. The Pentagon's move to partner with multiple vendors aims to avoid over-reliance on a single company.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently labeled Anthropic a "supply chain risk," barring its tools from government settings. The company's legal challenge is set for September. Meanwhile, OpenAI, Google, and others have stepped in to fill the gap. Google's Gemini will be used for classified work for the first time, despite internal employee protests. SpaceX, now parent of xAI, brings its Grok chatbot, while Nvidia and Reflection contribute open-source models. Microsoft, AWS, and Oracle continue providing cloud services under the new framework.
The Pentagon noted that over a million personnel have used its internal AI platform since last year, reducing task completion times from months to days.