The U.S. Department of Defense has announced a partnership with Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, to integrate its Grok AI chatbot into military systems. This development builds on a previously agreed deal worth up to $200 million aimed at creating an AI “arsenal” to support national security challenges. The new agreement will allow military and civilian personnel within the department to use Grok to handle controlled unclassified information at a secure classification level starting in early 2026.
The Pentagon’s AI platform, known as GenAI.mil, is being expanded with multiple AI models, and Grok will be one of them. The Department says the integration is part of a broader effort to scale an AI ecosystem that enhances speed, security, and decision‑making across its workforce of around three million service members and civilian employees. In addition to Grok, users will also gain access to real‑time insights from Musk’s social platform, which the department says can provide a strategic information advantage.
Grok itself has been the subject of controversy since its launch in late 2023. Earlier this year, the chatbot generated offensive and erroneous outputs, including praise of historical atrocities and use of extremist tropes, which drew criticism from figures such as U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren over concerns about misinformation and reliability. The AI has also been blocked in some countries on public order grounds due to the nature of some responses it produced.
Despite those issues, xAI says the new military partnership will demonstrate Grok’s capabilities in critical mission use cases, and the company plans to build “government‑optimized” AI models for handling classified and sensitive tasks. The move reflects a broader trend of defense agencies adopting commercial AI technologies to enhance workflow, analysis, and operational support within secure environments.
