Google, Nvidia and other tech titans sign AI deal with the Pentagon
Eight technology companies, including Google, Nvidia and SpaceX, have struck deals with the Pentagon to help the US military gain an advantage on the battlefield.
“These agreements will accelerate the transformation to establish the U.S. military as an AI-first fighting force and strengthen our warfighters’ ability to maintain decision superiority across all domains of warfare,” the Department of Defense said in a statement Friday.
According to the agency, the companies will deploy their AI technologies into the ministry’s “confidential networks” for “lawful operational use.”
OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Oracle and AI startup Reflection are among the companies that have agreed to work with the Pentagon.
The agreements underscore how tech companies are expanding their work with the U.S. military even as some workers voice concerns about the use of artificial intelligence for autonomous weapons and mass surveillance. Anthropic, the San Francisco company behind chatbot Claude, fell out with the Pentagon earlier this year over whether there were adequate protections for the military’s use of the technology.
The Defense Department accused Anthropic of trying to “seize veto power” over military decisions, but the company disputed that characterization. The agency labeled Anthropic a supply chain risk, and the Trump administration launched a legal challenge over that designation, ordering federal agencies to stop using the company’s tools.
This week, hundreds of Google employees pressured CEO Sundar Pichai to reject the use of its AI systems for secret workloads to ensure its technology is not used in “inhumane or extremely harmful ways.” In the letter, workers stated that since the work is confidential, harmful use may occur without their knowledge.
Google, Reflection and SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. The Defense Department did not say how much each company was paid. A Pentagon official said some companies have active contracts, while others have made deals, but formal contracts will be forthcoming.
The Pentagon’s chief technology officer, Emil Michael, said in an interview with CNBC that the department is looking to diversify the companies it works with following its dispute with Anthropic.
“Guardrails are a negotiable thing with all companies depending on what they are, and they have different views on that,” he said. CNBC. Guardrails must also be consistent with the government’s values and restrictions, he added.
A source familiar with Nvidia’s Pentagon deal said the deal involves work with “Nemotron” AI models used to create AI agents that can complete tasks, not chips. The agreement includes language that use of the models will be consistent with civil liberties, constitutional rights and applicable laws, the source said.
OpenAI said the agreement announced by the Department of Defense referred to the agreement they made with the agency earlier this year.
The company said it wants “people who defend the United States to have the best tools.”
OpenAI, which faced backlash for striking a deal with the Pentagon in the wake of the anthropogenic fallout, said in March that its technology would not be used to make mass domestic surveillance, high-risk automated decisions or direct autonomous weapons.
Other technology companies such as Microsoft, Oracle and Amazon Web Services have also said they want to support the military and ensure they have access to the best artificial intelligence tools.
“We look forward to continuing to support the War Department’s modernization efforts and building AI solutions that will help them complete their critical missions,” Amazon Web Services spokesman Tim Barrett said in a statement.
