WASHINGTON – The Pentagon said on May 1 it had reached agreements with seven leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies to deploy their advanced capabilities on the Defense Department’s classified networks.
The statement notably excludes Anthropic, which has been in dispute with the Pentagon over guard rails for how the military could use its AI tools.
The Pentagon labelled the AI start-up, which has its tools widely used across the Department of Defense, a supply chain risk earlier in 2026, barring the Pentagon and its contractors from using them.
SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, Nvidia, Reflection, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services will be integrated into the Pentagon’s Impact Levels 6 and 7 network environments to “streamline data synthesis, elevate situational understanding, and augment warfighter decision-making in complex operational environments”, the Pentagon said in a statement.
The Pentagon’s main AI platform GenAI.mil has been used by over 1.3 million Defense Department personnel, the agency noted in its release, after five months of operation.
Google, which is already used within the Pentagon, has signed a deal enabling the Department of Defense to use its AI models for classified work, a source told Reuters earlier this week.
Defense Department chief technology officer Emil Michael on May 1 told news outlet CNBC that Anthropic is still a supply chain risk, but that Mythos, the company’s AI model with advanced cyber capabilities, is a “separate national security moment”.
The AI model created a stir among officials and Corporate America over its ability to supercharge hackers.
US President Donald Trump said last week that Anthropic was “shaping up” in the eyes of his administration, opening the door for the AI company to reverse its blacklisting at the Pentagon. REUTERS