Google said on Tuesday it had signed a deal to provide the Pentagon with its artificial intelligence models for covert work, amid a dispute between the Defense Department and AI startup Anthropic over how to responsibly use the technology during wartime.
The deal is part of a $200 million contract the search giant signed with the Pentagon last year to provide it with AI tools. Now, the Pentagon can use Google’s AI on classified systems for “any lawful government purpose,” people with knowledge of the deal said. The language reflected agreements the Defense Department struck last month with OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI to use their artificial intelligence models in classified networks, people who reviewed the contracts said.
“We’re proud to be part of a broad consortium of leading AI labs and technology and cloud companies that provide AI services and infrastructure in support of national security,” said Jenn Crider, Google spokeswoman. “We remain committed to the private and public sector consensus that artificial intelligence should not be used for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons without proper human oversight.”
US officials have confirmed that Google and the Pentagon have reached an agreement that would allow the company’s Gemini AI model to be used on a wide range of classified systems. The deal — along with those with OpenAI and xAI — could give the military flexibility and avoid any single company having locked-in contracts, one of the officials said.
Google declined to comment on the details of the contract. A Pentagon official confirmed that a contract with Google had been signed, but declined to provide details. Information previously reported details agreements.
The Pentagon has moved aggressively to secure deals with Silicon Valley’s biggest AI companies since Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in January that the technology would be widely integrated across the military.
The move led to friction between the Pentagon and some Silicon Valley companies over technology’s role in the war. Antropic, the start-up whose AI technology was first used in classified networks, has refused to remove the railings against using its AI for autonomous weapons or home surveillance. The Pentagon countered that the company shouldn’t be telling it how to use AI
In March, the Pentagon designated Anthropic a “supply chain risk,” a designation that effectively made it impossible for the San Francisco company to work with the federal government. Anthropic has since sued the Pentagon over the designation and is seeking to continue working with other parts of the federal government.
White House officials met with Anthropic about 10 days ago to discuss a compromise on how the government could use the company’s AI This month, Anthropic released a powerful AI model called Mythos that many believe could be critical to security.
Defense officials said artificial intelligence is increasingly important to their work. Last week, the Pentagon asked Congress for $2.3 billion to expand Project Maven, a system built by data analytics company Palantir to integrate AI technology into the military. The system uses Anthropic’s AI technology to help analyze intelligence. If Anthropic and the Pentagon are unable to compromise, another company’s artificial intelligence technology could be deployed instead, two officials familiar with the system said.
Google’s Gemini is already in use in unclassified systems at the Department of Defense. The introduction of new AI models has created some technical hurdles as government cloud providers have had to change configurations or upgrade hardware, officials said.
Google’s deal with the Pentagon is the latest validation of the Silicon Valley company’s AI technology. After falling behind newcomers like OpenAI and Anthropic, the search giant — which pioneered artificial intelligence — has caught up in performance and features with the latest version of Gemini.
Google has advantages that its competitors do not. He has deep pockets, designs his own AI chips, and runs a cloud computing business with data centers spread across the globe.
Google struck a deal with the Pentagon despite opposition from some employees. On Monday, more than 600 from the company’s AI and cloud divisions signed a letter urging Google to deny the Pentagon the use of its technology for covert military operations. More than 100 people working in artificial intelligence also signed a letter in February calling on Google to implement the same safeguards Anthropic is seeking in its government contracts.
In 2018, Google struck a deal with the Pentagon that sparked an employee revolt and led the company to terminate the contract. In the following years, the company centralized the decision-making process around these agreements and tried to suppress employee activism.
Google and Anthropic are rivals, but also partners. Google began supporting Anthropic in its infancy. Last week, Google said it had committed to investing up to $40 billion in Anthropic. Anthropic relies on Google and Amazon for the cloud computing it needs to develop AI, and has become one of the biggest users of the tech giants’ own AI chips.
Kate Conger contributed reporting.
