WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Defense announced Friday it has signed landmark artificial intelligence agreements with eight of the world’s most powerful technology companies, confirming a sweeping partnership that will bring AI tools into the nation’s classified networks and military operations — and pointedly excluding the one company that suggested the AI maybe shouldn’t kill people without asking first.
SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon Web Services, Oracle, and Reflection are all now official Pentagon AI partners. The AI safety company that reportedly insisted on including certain guardrails around the government’s use of AI in warfare was not invited.
“We need AI that’s ready to go,” said a senior Pentagon official who requested anonymity because he said the press release hadn’t been “wordsmithed yet.” “We don’t need AI that keeps asking questions about proportionality.”
The excluded safety-focused company, whose AI assistant and developer protocol crossed 97 million installs in March, declined to sign an agreement that would have allowed its systems to be used without what the company called “meaningful human oversight in lethal applications.” The Trump administration, sources say, interpreted this as “attitude.”
“They were the only company that had concerns,” said a Defense Department spokesperson. “Everyone else was completely on board. Very enthusiastic. Especially the rocket company.”
“We are proud to support the brave men and women of the U.S. military,” said one partner company’s spokesperson in a statement released Friday, which notably did not mention guardrails even once.
The deal will allow the Pentagon to deploy large language models across classified networks for intelligence analysis, logistics, targeting support, and what officials described in the announcement as “miscellaneous.”
Observers noted the agreement marks a historic shift in the relationship between Silicon Valley and the U.S. military, a relationship that was previously complicated by employee protests, ethical concerns, and what one former tech executive described as “a very long conversation about vibes.”
The excluded AI company issued a statement saying it remained committed to responsible AI development and looked forward to continuing work with other government partners. The statement did not acknowledge that those partners now consist primarily of a State Department forms-processing office and a mid-sized county in Ohio.
Congress is expected to hold hearings next week, during which lawmakers will ask what the AI systems do, be told they cannot understand the answer, nod thoughtfully, and approve the budget anyway.
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