OpenAI is officially part of the Pentagon’s staff. The Department of Defense announced a $200 million contract with OpenAI to provide the US government with new artificial intelligence tools, including those used for proactive cyber defense.
In a statement describing the latest contracts, the Department of Defense said that OpenAI will “develop a prototype of edge AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both the military and corporate domains.” The work will be primarily performed in the Washington, D.C. area, with an estimated completion date of July 2026.
In a new blog post, OpenAI said that the contract with the Department of Defense is its first partnership as part of a new initiative to provide its artificial intelligence technology to federal, state, and local government officials. According to the report, the company is offering custom models for national security on a “limited basis,” with OpenAI stating that all use cases must comply with its policies and guidelines. OpenAI’s current use policy prohibits the use of its services for “the development or use of weapons” and “bodily injury to others or destruction of property.”
“This contract, with a maximum value of $200 million, will leverage OpenAI’s industry-leading expertise to help the Department of Defense define and prototype how edge AI can transform its administrative operations, from improving healthcare for service members and their families to streamlining program review and data collection to supporting proactive cyber defense,” OpenAI said.
This is not the first time that OpenAI has partnered with the military: in December 2024, the company entered into a partnership with Anduril Industries to integrate its artificial intelligence software into the defense company’s drone countermeasures. The new one-year contract with the Defense Ministry contradicts previous versions of OpenAI’s terms of service, which prohibited the use of its technology for “military and warfare” – a ban that was lifted by the company last year.
OpenAI’s contract with the DoD is the latest in several efforts to bolster military efforts with AI technology: earlier this month, the US renamed the AI Security Institute to focus on combating national security risks rather than general security. On June 5, rival AI developer Anthropic announced the creation of an AI model with looser restrictions for the US defense and intelligence agencies, Google in February removed its commitment not to use AI in ways “that cause or could cause general harm,” and Meta last year began allowing the US government to use its Llama AI model for “national security applications.”
