The Department of War has finalized contracts with seven leading technology firms to deploy their AI systems in classified military environments, marking a significant expansion of the Pentagon’s artificial intelligence capabilities.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Department of War announced Friday that it has completed agreements allowing the use of AI technology from OpenAI, Google, SpaceX, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, and startup Reflection AI in classified settings. The deals represent a major step forward in the Pentagon’s push to integrate cutting-edge artificial intelligence tools into military operations.
The completion of these contracts moves beyond preliminary agreements to enable actual day-to-day operational deployment of these AI systems within the military.
While some companies like OpenAI and SpaceX had previously established initial agreements permitting their AI tools for lawful military scenarios, the finalized contracts represent crucial progress toward embedding these technologies into regular Pentagon operations. The deals underscore how extensively Silicon Valley has aligned with War Department requirements, contrasting sharply with Anthropic’s earlier refusal to accept Pentagon contract terms.
The development comes amid an ongoing dispute between the Pentagon and Anthropic. For several months, Anthropic’s Claude models were among the few AI tools available in classified environments through Palantir Technologies, which provides AI capabilities to the military via its Maven platform.
Following the contract disagreement, the Pentagon designated Anthropic as a supply-chain risk deemed unsuitable for military applications, intensifying the need to provide servicemembers with alternative AI models in classified settings. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, testifying before Congress Thursday, referred to Anthropic Chief Executive Dario Amodei as an “ideological lunatic.”
Emil Michael, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and former tech executive, said in a statement: “We are equipping the warfighter with a suite of AI tools to maintain an unfair advantage and achieve absolute decision superiority.”
Microsoft and Amazon, both major cloud-computing infrastructure providers and key partners to model developers, already maintain substantial relationships with the Pentagon. Both companies have developed their own AI technologies.
The Pentagon’s agreements with Nvidia and Reflection represent new partnerships and demonstrate a commitment to offering open-source models, whose technical details are publicly available to developers. Most prominent AI models operate as closed systems, restricting user customization options.
Nvidia, the world’s largest chip manufacturer, creates its own open models. The company’s Pentagon agreement covers its Nemotron open-source models, which enable AI agents to autonomously execute tasks.
Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang, who has developed connections with President Trump, has expressed his belief that open models surpass closed models in many national security applications because their characteristics are fully transparent and easily adaptable for specialized purposes. “Safety and security is frankly enhanced with open-source,” he said in a recent conversation with the head of the Special Competitive Studies Project think tank that was posted online.
Administration officials noted that prominent Chinese AI companies specialize in open models they aim to market internationally, emphasizing the importance of developing American alternatives.
Nvidia has invested in Reflection, led by former Google DeepMind researchers, which participates in a government-supported initiative to create models customized for the South Korean market and is negotiating funding at a twenty-five billion dollar valuation. Reflection has not yet released any AI models.
A Reflection spokeswoman stated: “This shared understanding with the Pentagon is a first step in supporting U.S. national security, and sets a precedent for how AI labs could work across the U.S. government—from supporting our servicemembers to our scientists.”
Anthropic is challenging the administration’s prohibition on using its software for defense purposes through two separate legal proceedings. The company’s models were utilized during the Iran war and the operation to apprehend then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this year.
The clash between conservatives and leftist Silicon Valley giants that have built empires on their anti-military attitudes and resistance to supporting our warfighters is one of the primary themes of the instant bestseller by Breitbart News Social Media Director Wynton Hall, Code Red: The Left, the Right, China, and the Race to Control AI.
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who was named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in AI, praised CODE RED as a “must-read.” She added: “Few understand our conservative fight against Big Tech as Hall does,” making him “uniquely qualified to examine how we can best utilize AI’s enormous potential, while ensuring it does not exploit kids, creators, and conservatives.” Award-winning investigative journalist and Public founder Michael Shellenberger calls CODE RED “illuminating,” ”alarming,” and describes the book as “an essential conversation-starter for those hoping to subvert Big Tech’s autocratic plans before it’s too late.”
Read more at the Wall Street Journal here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of AI, free speech, and online censorship.