April 28 (Reuters) – Alphabet’s Google has signed 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, joining OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI in having deals with the Pentagon for the use of AI models for classified settings.
Reuters could not verify the report. Alphabet and the U.S. Department of Defense did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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.
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.
U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the department to rename itself the Department of War, a change that will require congressional action.
(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Rashmi Aich)
