ChatGPT’s creator has secured a $200 million deal with the Pentagon to create advanced AI prototypes for the US military.
OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT language model, has been awarded a $200 million contract by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), as announced on Monday. OpenAI stated this initiative aims to “defend democracy” amid increasing competition from China.
According to the announcement, the contract requires OpenAI to develop “prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains.” The project is slated to take place in the National Capital Region, including Washington D.C., and is expected to be completed by July 2026.
While this marks OpenAI’s first publicly known agreement with the DoD, the company has previously participated in national security projects. In December, OpenAI partnered with defense contractor Anduril Industries to create AI systems for counter-drone operations. At that time, Anduril indicated the collaboration sought to apply AI to “rapidly synthesize time-sensitive data, reduce the burden on human operators, and improve situational awareness.”
In January, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joined other Silicon Valley leaders and President Donald Trump in announcing Project Stargate, a $500 billion investment in U.S. computing infrastructure designed to bolster future AI development.
That same month, OpenAI introduced a version of ChatGPT customized for the U.S. government. The company stated the software would operate on specialized hardware, such as Microsoft Azure’s cloud services, enabling government agencies to “manage their own security, privacy, and compliance requirements.”
In late January, the tech world was surprised by the unveiling of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which claimed its product outperformed ChatGPT in key operational cost areas. The following month, Altman stated at a Washington event that OpenAI was dedicated to helping the U.S. government protect “America’s lead in AI” to safeguard “democratic values.”
In April, industry publications reported that OpenAI was developing a new social media platform similar to Elon Musk’s X. Musk, formerly a close ally of Trump, is working to integrate his own AI assistant, Grok, into X.
The billionaire co-founded OpenAI but left the company in 2018. Musk and Altman are now reportedly in a “bitter rivalry.”
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