Google signs classified AI deal with Pentagon, The Information reports. Here’s what it says
Alphabet's Google joined a growing list of technology firms to sign a deal with the US Department of Defense to use its artificial intelligence models for classified work, The Information reported on Tuesday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Pentagon. Image by Joshua Roberts | Reuters
Alphabet's Google joined a growing list of technology firms to sign a deal with the US Department of Defense to use its artificial intelligence models for classified work, The Information reported on Tuesday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
- Google signed a Pentagon deal to provide AI models for classified military work, including mission planning and weapons targeting.
- The agreement allows Google to adjust AI safety filters at government request, with no veto power over military decisions.
- The contract restricts use for domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons “without appropriate human oversight and control.”
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
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.
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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 US 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 US 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.
