The Pentagon has signed contracts with OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, Elon Musk’s xAI, and startup Reflection to allow the use of AI tools in classified environments, according to an announcement Friday. At the same time, defense…
issued 1 hour ago above May 4, 2026, 5:01am
by web desk
The Pentagon has signed contracts with OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, Elon Musk’s xAI, and startup Reflection to allow the use of AI tools in classified environments, according to an announcement Friday. At the same time, the Department of Defense delisted Anthropic, which it had previously classified, after declaring it a supply chain risk. This is based on contracts with OpenAI and xAI, both of which have already reached agreements with the Department of Defense for the “legal” use of their AI systems. Google appears to have signed a similar deal, according to a report in The Information. As the Wall Street Journal noted, Microsoft and Amazon already have “deep relationships with the Department of Defense,” but Nvidia’s deal with Reflection is new. Anthropic also had a $200 million contract to handle classified materials for the Pentagon, but refused to ease the agency’s “red lines” surrounding massive domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons, leading to a dispute that resulted in the AI startup’s products being banned by the federal government. In response, Antropic sued the federal government and won a temporary restraining order. Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s chief technology officer, told CNBC on Friday that while Anthropic remains a supply chain risk, he called its strong security model, Mythos, “another national security moment,” adding, “We need to make sure our networks are hardened, because this model has specialized capabilities for finding and patching cyber vulnerabilities.” The Pentagon said in a statement that the agreement with seven AI companies allows for “lawful operational use” of their systems and “establishes the U.S. military as an AI-first combat force.”
