The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded contracts to four leading artificial intelligence (AI) developers to accelerate the military's adoption of this emerging technology. The contracts have been granted to Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet (GOOGL, Financial), OpenAI, Elon Musk's xAI, and Anthropic PBC. Although the exact financial details have not been disclosed, each contract has a cap of $200 million.
Doug Matty, head of the Department's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO), stated that integrating existing commercial solutions into a cohesive system will expedite the use of advanced AI in various operations, including combat, intelligence, and business information systems. These contracts offer significant revenue opportunities for AI companies looking to expand their influence in the public sector.
xAI announced plans to introduce a product suite called "Grok for Government" tailored for U.S. government use. The Department of Defense is adopting a "commercial-first" strategy to speed up AI adoption. These agreements will also enable other federal agencies to access these AI tools through a partnership with the General Services Administration (GSA).
