NAIROBI, Kenya – Elon Musk’s controversial AI chatbot, Grok, is heading to Washington—with a $200 million Pentagon contract in hand.
Yes, the same Grok that recently came under fire for antisemitic posts on X (formerly Twitter) is now officially part of the U.S. government’s national security tech stack.
The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed Monday that it had signed a multi-million dollar deal with Musk’s xAI, as part of its newly launched “Grok for Government” initiative.
The agreement gives the federal government access to Grok 4, the latest version of the chatbot, alongside bespoke AI tools tailored for classified environments and defense operations.
xAI’s deal is one of several $200 million contracts awarded, with Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI also signing up to help the government scale its artificial intelligence adoption.
According to the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and AI Officer Doug Matty, this AI integration is “transforming the Department’s ability to support our warfighters and maintain strategic advantage over our adversaries.”
And while AI’s military applications are nothing new, the involvement of Musk’s chatbot—a tool that just last week was spewing Hitler praise—adds a new layer of controversy.
Musk, in typical fashion, shrugged off the backlash, blaming Grok’s inflammatory behavior on it being “too compliant” and “too eager to please.” He promised that fixes were already in motion. Still, the timing couldn’t be worse for a product now tied to national security.
The move also comes amid rising tensions between Musk and President Donald Trump, a surprising twist in their once-cozy relationship.
Musk had pumped more than $250 million into Trump’s 2024 campaign and was even handed control of Doge—the Department of Government Efficiency—tasked with streamlining bureaucracy and slashing federal spending.
But their bromance hit the brakes after Musk publicly criticized Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” a sweeping fiscal package that Musk dubbed too bloated and too expensive for the American taxpayer. By May, Musk had resigned from Doge, though the agency still technically exists.
Trump, never one to let a feud simmer, has since floated the idea of targeting Musk’s companies through Doge and even suggested deporting the billionaire tech mogul—despite Musk being a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Still, xAI appears undeterred. This new government contract could open fresh channels for Grok to be deployed across various federal departments, including areas that may involve access to sensitive data—a topic that previously sparked privacy concerns during Musk’s Doge tenure.
Let’s not forget: while Musk was running Doge, the White House faced heat for allegedly giving him broad access to government databases containing personal information on American citizens.
Grok, introduced in late 2023, was billed as a more “unfiltered” alternative to AI chatbots like ChatGPT. It’s now fully integrated into Musk’s X platform, and this Pentagon contract could be the beginning of an even deeper push into government services.
With the government now betting big on Grok—even as it walks a fine line between AI innovation and ethical disaster—it raises a fundamental question: Can a chatbot still learning not to praise Nazis really be trusted to help shape the future of U.S. national security?
