The Department of Defense (DoD) has solidified partnerships with top AI companies like Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and xAI through contracts valued at $800 million. Each company will assist the Pentagon in employing artificial intelligence across various military functions, each contract capped at $200 million.

The DoD is keen on advancing agentic AI, aiming to harness these technologies for enhanced defense capabilities. The collaborations will also focus on identifying national security needs and optimizing AI applications for military use.

Google provides its latest AI models and network infrastructure, while Anthropic aids in refining AI use cases specific to DoD requirements and in countering potential adversarial AI applications. xAI is expanding its reach in the public sector with strategic offerings.

Despite some companies’ reservations about defense associations, the contracts highlight the strong pull of government funding and resources. For the tech giants, the agreements present opportunities to leverage substantial government assets and data to further their AI initiatives.