A Department of Defense agency has awarded contracts to leading artificial intelligence companies to address key national security issues.
The Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office announced Monday that AI firms Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI have received contracts, each with a $200 million ceiling. The contracts will shorten the gap in knowledge between the Defense Department and the private sector, helping the federal government expand its AI experience.
“The adoption of AI is transforming the Department’s ability to support our warfighters and maintain strategic advantage over our adversaries,” said Doug Matty, chief digital and AI officer, in the announcement. “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.”
The contracts are part of the Defense Department’s “commercial first” strategy, which will integrate the best U.S.-based AI talent, the agency said. That integration means that several departments will have access to the latest generative AI models.
The Defense Department also is partnering with the General Services Administration to leverage “whole-of-government” purchasing power to ensure the federal government has access to cutting-edge AI tools, the agency said.
The announcement is a big win for the Elon Musk-led xAI, which develops Grok AI and has quickly become one of the most valuable AI companies on the planet. The company announced Monday that a slew of new features created for government employees, termed “Grok for Government.” The new tools will be available for purchase through the GSA this week.
