The U.S. government has awarded a $200 million military contract to xAI, the company behind the Grok chatbot. Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI have also signed similar agreements.
According to The Verge, the awarding of this $200 million contract to xAI comes just a week after the Grok chatbot published antisemitic and pro-Hitler content. However, other American AI companies have also received similar contracts from the government.
xAI Receives Military Contracts from the U.S. Government
The use of artificial intelligence in defense has always been a controversial topic. Elon Musk’s involvement—as the owner and CEO of xAI and the former head of the U.S. Office of Efficiency—has raised questions about potential conflicts of interest.
Musk’s relationship with Donald Trump has soured in recent months, with Musk distancing himself from the Trump administration and even issuing sharp criticisms of the president personally. Nevertheless, the awarding of a $200 million contract by the U.S. government to xAI indicates that Musk remains a trusted government contractor. Following recent controversies, Trump had even suggested the possibility of revoking federal contracts from Musk’s companies, including SpaceX.
The new contracts with AI companies were announced by the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, though few details about the agreements have been released. It has been stated that the contracts aim to help the Department of Defense develop agentic AI workflows across various mission areas.
Alongside the announcement of the contract, xAI unveiled its “Grok for Government” service, stating that this offering will provide cutting-edge AI products to the U.S. government. In addition to the Department of Defense contract, xAI also announced that other federal agencies will now be able to purchase its tools through the General Services Administration (GSA) procurement list.
In addition to xAI, companies such as Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI have each received similar $200 million contracts from the U.S. government. These contracts are said to be part of efforts to leverage AI capabilities in addressing certain national security challenges.
