Alphabet, Microsoft and xAI to Give US Government Early Access to Advanced AI Models

Alphabet, Microsoft and xAI have agreed to give the US government pre-release access to their most advanced frontier AI models. Federal officials will test the models before release through the Commerce Department's Center for AI Standards and Innovation.

The evaluations focus on national security, cybersecurity and biosecurity risks, with over 40 evaluations of unreleased models already completed.

Leading AI companies will give the Commerce Department early access to new systems under the voluntary framework. New artificial intelligence tools and capabilities from Google, Microsoft and xAI will be tested by the US Department of Commerce before they are released to the public.

The tech firms have agreed to voluntarily submit their models for testing through Commerce's Center for AI Standards and Innovation.

The new pacts expand on agreements by AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic that were reached during the Biden Administration. Previous agreements with Anthropic and OpenAI have been renegotiated to reflect Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and President Trump’s new directives on security reviews. AI models from all of the companies will be evaluated for their capabilities and security.

"These expanded industry collaborations help us scale our work in the public interest at a critical moment," CAISI director Chris Fall said. " The evaluations of the AI tools will cover testing, collaborative research and best practice development related to commercial AI systems.

The Department of Commerce’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation will conduct pre-deployment evaluations and targeted research to better understand the capabilities and risks that come with new tools.

Microsoft stated that it already tests its AI models. The company added that testing for national security and large-scale public safety risks necessarily must be a collaborative endeavour with governments. Google’s DeepMind and Elon Musk’s xAI signed the new agreement for pre-deployment evaluations.

Chris Fall was recently announced as the center’s director after ex-Anthropic researcher Collin Burns was pushed out following just four days on the job. The AI Safety Institute was established in 2023 under the Biden administration. It was renamed as CAISI under the Trump administration.

Last year, US President Donald Trump signed a string of executive orders that formed the basis of his administration's AI Action Plan. Microsoft holds a Seeking Alpha Quant Rating of Strong Buy.