Pentagon Teams Up with Tech Giants for AI Contracts
Artificial intelligence (AI) firms have been seeking to increase their presence in the public sector, and these contracts will allow them to do just that. The Pentagon has stated that it is prioritizing the private sector in its efforts to accelerate the deployment of artificial intelligence.
Four leading US artificial intelligence developers secured contracts from the Defense Department to expedite the military’s integration of this emerging technology. The Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office announced on Monday that it will award contracts to Alphabet Inc.’s Google, OpenAI, Elon Musk’s xAI, and Anthropic PBC. The agency did not disclose the exact dollar value, but stated that each contract will have a ceiling of $200 million.
“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,” said Doug Matty, head of the CDAO.
The contracts signify a major revenue source for AI companies aiming to broaden their presence in the public sector. On Monday, xAI announced via social media that it was launching “Grok for Government,” a collection of products aimed at the US government. The Pentagon announced it is implementing a “commercial-first” strategy to accelerate AI adoption. The agreements enable other federal agencies to utilize the AI tools via a partnership with the General Services Administration.
