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Pentagon Clears Eight Tech Firms to Deploy AI on Classified Military Networks
The U.S. Defense Department announced agreements with eight tech firms to deploy AI models on classified networks for lawful purposes. The deals prompted employee protests at Google and follow a dispute with Anthropic. Separately, a Pentagon official testified that the war in Iran cost $25 billion in its first two months.
Apr 29, 12:57 PM·2m read6 sources
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The Pentagon has cleared eight technology companies — Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, OpenAI, SpaceX, Reflection and Oracle — to deploy their artificial intelligence models on U.S. military classified networks. Oracle was added to the agreements hours after the initial announcement, according to Breaking Defense.
The Department of Defense said the agreements will help establish the United States military as an AI-first fighting force. The deals allow the companies’ AI systems to be used on the U.S. military’s classified networks for any lawful purpose.
According to the New York Times, the Pentagon signed deals with OpenAI and xAI for using AI on classified networks. TechCrunch reported that the Pentagon signed deals with Nvidia, Microsoft and AWS to deploy AI on classified networks. The Los Angeles Times reported that Google, Nvidia and other tech titans signed an AI deal with the Pentagon.
A Pentagon official testified to the House Armed Services Committee that the war in Iran cost the United States $25 billion in the first two months. Acting Defense Department comptroller Jules Hurst testified that most of the $25 billion war cost was in munitions plus operations and maintenance and equipment replacement.
Hurst said that in the first week of the war the price tag was roughly $11 billion.
Rep. ” Hurst told the committee that the Pentagon and the White House would provide Congress with a supplemental request when they had a full assessment of the cost of conflict. Reporting indicated that the administration is planning to ask for a $98 billion supplemental to pay for the war in Iran.
The Center for American Progress estimated more than one month ago that the war in Iran had already cost $25 billion based on official cost tallies and work from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. An April 8 study from the American Enterprise Institute assessed that the war in Iran had already cost between $25 and $35 billion.
