Pentagon says US military to be an 'AI-first' fighting force

The US military has agreed eight new contracts with big tech firms as it expands its artificial intelligence capabilities. 13 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Kali Hays Technology reporter The US military plans to increase its use of artificial intelligence (AI) further after the Pentagon agreed to new and expanded contracts with some of the biggest names in technology. Under eight agreements with Google, OpenAI, Amazon, Microsoft, SpaceX, Oracle, Nvidia and the start-up Reflection, the Pentagon said AI technology would now be used for any "lawful operational use". "These agreements accelerate the transformation [of] the US military as an AI-first fighting force," the Pentagon said. Conspicuous by its absence is Anthropic, as the company has said it is concerned about how the Pentagon could use its tools in warfare and domestically.

The firm is now suing the government over the alleged retaliation it faced after refusing to accept "any lawful use" language in its own contract. The Pentagon on Friday noted that partnering with so many companies on AI would help it avoid "vendor lock" or being too reliant on a single company for its technology. "Access to a diverse suite of AI capabilities from across the resilient American technology stack will give warfighters the tools they need to act with confidence and safeguard the nation against any threat," the Pentagon said. Access to powerful technology has become a key component of success in warfare and the Pentagon has been working to build up its AI capabilities for several years. Anthropic's tools, including a version of its Claude chatbot, are still currently in use in many US government and defence agencies, as it was the first AI company to be deployed for classified work.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth moved within days to label Anthropic a "supply chain risk" meaning it was deemed too dangerous for use in government settings. In the meantime the row appears to have opened the door for other AI companies to work more closely with the government and military. OpenAI was the first company to ink a new deal with the Pentagon in the wake of Anthropic's row. A company spokeswoman said that Friday's announcement from the defence department was simply a formalisation of that deal. While Google's Gemini was also already in use by some parts of the government, this will be the first time the chatbot is being used to handle any government work at a classified level.

Earlier this week, hundreds of Google employees, including many from DeepMind, a part of the company that does much of the development work behind its AI models and tools, urged the company not to deepen its work with the government in a letter sent to chief executive Sundar Pichai and viewed by the BBC. A Google spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment. The company operates the controversial AI chatbot Grok , but is widely considered to offer less advanced AI capabilities than the likes of Anthropic, OpenAI and Google. A representative of SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. Nvidia and the startup Reflection will both have their open-source AI models, Nemotron and Reflection 70B, respectively, in use by the government.

Nvidia declined to comment and Reflection did not respond to a request for comment. Microsoft, AWS and Oracle have for years provided the cloud services purpose-built to enable government work that happens online. Microsoft and AWS did not reply to a request for comment, while Oracle said its defence work "enables the Department of War to build, deploy, and scale any model, without vendor lock-in." Friday's announcement from the Pentagon marked a continuation of those services, which will now be used to deploy more AI models and tools than ever for military use. Amazon Google Artificial intelligence Military Microsoft The US military has agreed eight new contracts with big tech firms as it expands its artificial intelligence capabilities. Pentagon says US military to be an 'AI-first' fighting force