April 28 (Reuters) – Alphabet’s Google joined a growing list of technology firms to sign a deal with the U.S. Department of Defense to use its artificial intelligence models for classified work, The Information reported on Tuesday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The agreement allows the Pentagon to use Google’s AI for “any lawful government purpose”, the report added, putting it alongside OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI, which also have deals to supply AI models for classified use.
Classified networks are used to handle a wide range of sensitive work, including mission planning and weapons targeting.
The Pentagon signed agreements worth up to $200 million each with major AI labs in 2025, including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google. The Pentagon is seeking to preserve all flexibility in defense and not be limited by warnings from the technology’s creators against powering weapons with unreliable AI.
Google’s agreement requires it to help in adjusting the company’s AI safety settings and filters at the government’s request.
The contract includes language noting “the parties agree that the AI System is not intended for, and should not be used for, domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons (including target selection) without appropriate human oversight and control”, according to the report, but also adds that the “Agreement does not confer any right to control or veto lawful Government operational decision-making”.
Reuters could not verify the report. Alphabet and the U.S. Department of Defense, which has now been renamed the Department of War by President Donald Trump, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson for Google Public Sector, the unit that handles U.S. government business, told The Information that the new agreement is an amendment to its existing contract.
Reuters had earlier reported that the Pentagon had been pushing top AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic to make their tools available on classified networks without the standard restrictions they apply to users.
(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Rashmi Aich)
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