U.S. military reaches deals with 7 tech companies to use their AI on classified systems

The Pentagon is seen from Air Force One as it flies over Washington on March 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Friday that it has partnered with seven tech companies to tap into their artificial intelligence in classified systems, allowing the military to boost its use of AI to help it fight wars.

Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Nvidia, OpenAI, Reflection and SpaceX will provide resources to help “augment warfighter decision-making in complex operational environments,” the Defense Department said.

The Defense Department has been rapidly accelerating its use of AI in recent years. The technology can help the U.S. military reduce the time it takes to identify and strike targets on the battlefield, while aiding in the organization of weapons maintenance and supply lines, according to a report in March from the Brennan Center for Justice.

Friday’s announcement comes after concerns raised by a company not on the list, Anthropic, whose battle with the Pentagon to put up AI guardrails has spilled into court. The tech company said it wanted assurances in its contract that the military would not use its technology in fully autonomous weapons and the surveillance of Americans. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the company must allow for any uses the Pentagon deemed lawful.

Anthropic sued after U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, tried to stop all federal agencies from using the company’s chatbot Claude and Hegseth sought to label the company a supply chain risk, a designation meant to protect against sabotage of national security systems by foreign adversaries.

OpenAI had announced a deal with the Pentagon in March to effectively replace Anthropic with ChatGPT in classified environments.

The Pentagon said Friday that military personnel are already using its AI capabilities through its official platform, GenAI.mil.

“Warfighters, civilians and contractors are putting these capabilities to practical use right now, cutting many tasks from months to days,” the Pentagon said, adding that the military’s growing AI capabilities will “give warfighters the tools they need to act with confidence and safeguard the nation against any threat.”

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Ben Finley, The Associated Press