The Pentagon has launched custom versions of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and xAI’s Grok, giving roughly 3 million military and civilian personnel access to generative AI tools tailored for defense use. The tools, named ChatGPT Mil and Grok for Government, join GenAI.mil, a secure portal launched last year to let Defense Department employees use commercial AI models without routing sensitive data through consumer channels.
GenAI.mil, which originally offered Google’s Gemini, has reportedly onboarded more than 1.7 million users of the department’s 3 million personnel. The additions come as the Pentagon continues expanding AI partnerships while notably excluding Anthropic’s Claude, following a dispute after Anthropic declined to grant the Pentagon unrestricted use of its models without safety guardrails, leading the administration to label the company a supply-chain risk, a designation Anthropic is contesting in court.
ChatGPT Mil, developed through OpenAI’s government program, will support routine unclassified administrative, logistics, and planning tasks, offering an experience similar to commercial ChatGPT. Grok for Government, built on SpaceX’s Starshield AI satellite network, was described by the department in more expansive terms, intended to support mission execution across contexts ranging from acquisitions research to supply-chain logistics.
The Pentagon has separately struck AI-related deals with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Reflection AI.
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