Pentagon secures deals with leading AI firms; Anthropic still a ‘supply chain risk’

The Pentagon said on Friday that it has reached agreements with seven AI companies for the deployment of their advanced capabilities on the Defense Department’s classified networks as it looks to broaden the range of AI providers working across the military. A Pentagon statement said that SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, NVIDIA, Reflection, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services will be integrated into its ⁠secret and top-secret network environments, providing more military access to their products for use on sensitive topics.

Among the firms is the lesser-known Reflection AI, which is backed by 1789 Capital, a venture capital firm in which Donald Trump Jr. is a partner and investor.

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The deals, however, exclude Anthropic, which fell out with the Pentagon over guardrails on the military’s use of its artificial intelligence tools. The Pentagon labelled Anthropic, which is widely used across the Defense Department, a supply-chain risk earlier this year and barred its use.

The US military expressed interest in AI startups since the Pentagon deemed Anthropic’s products a “supply chain risk” in March and the two sides became embroiled in a lawsuit.

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Faster incorporation for new entrants

The newer AI entrants have said the military has sped up the process of incorporating them onto secret and top-secret data levels to less than three months. Earlier, the process took 18 months or longer.

By expanding AI services offered to troops, who use it for planning, logistics, targeting, and in other ways to streamline huge operations and work more quickly, the Pentagon said it will avoid “vendor lock”, a ⁠likely nod to its overdependence on Anthropic or other dominant service providers.

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Pentagon staffers, former officials, and IT contractors told Reuters that they were reluctant to give up Anthropic’s AI tools, which they view as superior to alternatives, despite orders to remove them over the next six months.

AI has become increasingly important for the US military, and the Pentagon's main AI platform, GenAI.mil, has been used by over 1.3 million Defense Department personnel.

Google has signed a deal enabling the Defense Department to use its AI models for classified work, a source told Reuters this week.

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Anthropic still viewed as ‘supply chain risk’

Defense Department Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael told CNBC on Friday that Anthropic remains a supply chain risk.

However, it is not known if Anthropic’s AI model Mythos, which has advanced cyber capabilities and created a stir over its ability to supercharge hackers, is being used by the Pentagon to help ⁠secure its IT infrastructure against future cyberattacks.