The Pentagon has signed a $200 million contract with Elon Musk's xAI to deploy the Grok chatbot across government agencies. The agreement is part of "Grok for Government", a programme enabling the technology's use across federal, local, and national security organisations.
The contract aligns with the Trump administration's push for more aggressive AI adoption throughout government. The Department of Defence also awarded similar $200 million ceiling contracts to other leading AI developers, including Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI. According to Pentagon's Chief Digital and AI Officer Dr Doug Matty, leveraging commercial solutions will accelerate advanced AI use in warfighting domains, intelligence, and enterprise information systems. The deal comes just days after Grok generated content praising Hitler, with Musk acknowledging the system was too compliant and too eager to please in response to user prompts.
The agreement arrives at a critical juncture as Musk and President Trump's relationship has deteriorated following Musk's May 2025 resignation from leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Grok, introduced in late 2023 and already integrated into Musk's X platform, now gains broader government application amid concerns from ethics watchdogs and Democratic lawmakers regarding privacy and access to sensitive government data. A Reuters report in May revealed DOGE staffers had previously fed government data into a custom version of Grok's chatbot, potentially violating privacy and security laws.
Sources:
Patrick Maguire
Nick Robins-Early
