Google Signs A.I. Deal With the Pentagon

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Google Signs A.I. Deal With the Pentagon

The Pentagon has also signed deals for using A.I. on classified networks with OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI, amid a dispute with Anthropic.

Google’s campus in Mountain View, Calif.

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Kelsey McClellan for The New York Times

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Google Signs A.I. Deal With the Pentagon

The Pentagon has also signed deals for using A.I. on classified networks with OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI, amid a dispute with Anthropic.

Google’s campus in Mountain View, Calif.

Credit...

Kelsey McClellan for The New York Times

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By

Sheera Frenkel

Tripp Mickle

and

Julian E. Barnes

April 28, 2026

Google said on Tuesday that it had signed a deal to provide the Pentagon with its artificial intelligence models for classified work, amid a dispute with Anthropic over how to responsibly use the technology during war.

The agreement allows the Pentagon to use Google’s A.I. for “any lawful governmental purpose,” people with knowledge of the deal said. The language mirrored that of other deals that the Department of Defense

struck last month with OpenAI

and Elon Musk’s xAI to use their A.I. models on classified networks, said people who had reviewed the contracts.

“We are proud to be part of a broad consortium of leading A.I. labs and technology and cloud companies providing A.I. services and infrastructure in support of national security,” said Jenn Crider, a Google spokeswoman. “We remain committed to the private and public sector consensus that A.I. should not be used for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weaponry without appropriate human oversight.”

Google declined to comment on contractual details. The Pentagon declined to comment. The Information earlier reported details of the deal.

The Pentagon has moved aggressively to secure agreements with Silicon Valley’s biggest A.I. companies since January, when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

announced

that the technology should be widely integrated across the military.

The move has led to friction between the Pentagon and some Silicon Valley companies over the role of technology in war. Anthropic, the start-up whose A.I. technology was first used on classified networks, refused to remove ​guardrails against using its A.I. for autonomous weapons or domestic surveillance. The Pentagon countered that a company should not be telling it how to use A.I.

In March, the Pentagon designated Anthropic a “supply chain risk, a label that effectively banned the San Francisco company from working with the federal government. Anthropic has since sued the Pentagon over the designation, and is seeking to continue working with other parts of the federal government.

White House officials

met with Anthropic

about 10 days ago to discuss a compromise on how the company’s A.I. could be used by the government. This month, Anthropic released a powerful A.I. model called Mythos, which many believe could be critical for security.

Kate Conger

contributed reporting.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

Sheera Frenkel is a reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area, covering the ways technology affects everyday lives with a focus on social media companies, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Telegram and WhatsApp.

Tripp Mickle reports on some of the world’s biggest tech companies, including Nvidia, Google and Apple. He also writes about trends across the tech industry like layoffs and artificial intelligence.

Julian E. Barnes covers the U.S. intelligence agencies and international security matters for The Times. He has written about security issues for more than two decades.

See more on:

Alphabet Inc.

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U.S. Department of Defense

,

Anthropic AI LLC

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