The Pentagon will deploy Elon Musk's AI tool Grok

Grok chatbot icon. Photo: REUTERS/TTXVN

According to Politico on July 14, this information was announced after xAI, the AI startup of Mr. Elon Musk, officially introduced the “Grok for Government” product suite on the social network X that Mr. Musk owns. According to the announcement, this product suite will provide advanced AI models, specifically designed to serve customers in the US Government, including the Department of Defense .

The contract between the Pentagon and xAI is said to be worth up to $200 million. Preliminary terms show that Grok will be deployed to develop custom AI models for national security, basic science research applications and expansion into the medical field. In addition, this tool is expected to contribute to promoting AI projects for public health and key technology research areas.

This is considered an important step forward for Elon Musk's ambition to expand his influence in the field of artificial intelligence, especially applications serving national security and defense. This technology billionaire has long considered Grok as a direct competitor to other large AI corporations, including OpenAI - a company that has also signed a separate contract with the Pentagon in specialized AI development programs.

“Grok for Government is a product suite that makes our most advanced AI models available to U.S. Government customers,” xAI said in an announcement on the X platform.

In addition to xAI, major technology corporations such as Anthropic and Google have also received contracts to develop AI for defense purposes, according to confirmation from the US Department of Defense. Although it did not comment on details, the Pentagon has made public the basic information of the agreement on its information page.

Grok has also recently faced criticism for its content. Last week, the AI chatbot posted several allegedly anti-Semitic comments, shortly after Elon Musk announced plans to tweak and upgrade the system. X quickly removed the posts, saying the issue was not due to a bug in its core language model but rather due to an under-optimized content moderation system.

Analysts say the Pentagon's signing of a contract to use Grok amid controversy over the platform shows that the US is still pushing to exploit new-generation AI technologies to serve its national security strategy and maintain its technological competitive position.

The news of the Pentagon-xAI contract also attracted attention because it was announced in the context of a rift between US President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk. Previously, Mr. Musk spent nearly $300 million to support Mr. Trump's re-election campaign as well as Republican candidates in the 2024 election. However, recently, this billionaire has publicly criticized President Trump for large spending packages, which Mr. Musk said would increase the burden of US public debt.

Not only that, Mr. Musk also accused the Trump administration and the US Department of Justice of concealing information related to billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein - who was prosecuted for sex trafficking and died in prison. In addition, Musk's announcement that he would form a third political party to run in the upcoming elections has increased tensions between the two sides. Mr. Trump's side reacted harshly, saying that Mr. Elon Musk had "crossed the line".

Meanwhile, the US Department of Defense maintains its stance of not commenting deeply on the personal relationships between the parties involved, but focuses on affirming the selection of technology partners to serve the national security and science and technology development goals. According to some sources, the new contracts will focus on developing AI applications that can support big data processing, enhance intelligence analysis capabilities, and serve the fields of medicine and basic science.

According to HOANG ANH/Tin Tuc and Dan Toc Newspaper

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/nhip-song-so/lau-nam-goc-se-trien-khai-su-dung-cong-cu-ai-grok-cua-elon-musk-152366.html