Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI granted up to $200 million for AI work from Defense Department
The DoD's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office said the awards will help the agency accelerate its adoption of 'advanced AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges.' The companies will work to develop AI agents across several mission areas at the agency.
'The adoption of AI is transforming the Department's ability to support our warfighters and maintain strategic advantage over our adversaries,' Doug Matty, the DoD's chief digital and AI officer, said in a release.
Elon Musk's xAI also announced Grok for Government on Monday, which is a suite of products that make the company's models available to U.S. government customers. The products are available through the General Services Administration (GSA) schedule, which allows federal government departments, agencies, or offices to purchase them, according to a post on X.
OpenAI was previously awarded a year-long $200 million contract from the DoD in 2024, shortly after it said it would collaborate with defense technology startup Anduril to deploy advanced AI systems for 'national security missions.'
In June, the company launched OpenAI for Government for U.S. federal, state, and local government workers.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
AI firms ‘unprepared' for dangers of building human-level systems, report warns
Artificial intelligence companies are 'fundamentally unprepared' for the consequences of creating systems with human-level intellectual performance, according to a leading AI safety group. The Future of Life Institute (FLI) said none of the firms on its AI safety index scored higher than a D for 'existential safety planning'. One of the five reviewers of the FLI's report said that, despite aiming to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI), none of the companies scrutinised had 'anything like a coherent, actionable plan' to ensure the systems remained safe and controllable. AGI refers to a theoretical stage of AI development at which a system is capable of matching a human in carrying out any intellectual task. OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has said its mission is to ensure AGI 'benefits all of humanity'. Safety campaigners have warned that AGI could pose an existential threat by evading human control and triggering a catastrophic event. The FLI's report said: 'The industry is fundamentally unprepared for its own stated goals. Companies claim they will achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI) within the decade, yet none scored above D in existential safety planning.' The index evaluates seven AI developers – Google DeepMind, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, xAI and China's Zhipu AI and DeepSeek – across six areas including 'current harms' and 'existential safety'. Anthropic received the highest overall safety score with a C+, followed by OpenAI with a C and Google DeepMind with a C-. The FLI is a US-based non-profit that campaigns for safer use of cutting-edge technology and is able to operate independently due to an 'unconditional' donation from crypto entrepreneur Vitalik Buterin. SaferAI, another safety-focused non-profit, also released a report on Thursday warning that advanced AI companies have 'weak to very weak risk management practices' and labelled their current approach 'unacceptable'. The FLI safety grades were assigned and reviewed by a panel of AI experts, including British computer scientist Stuart Russell, and Sneha Revanur, founder of AI regulation campaign group Encode Justice. Max Tegmark, a co-founder of FLI and a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said it was 'pretty jarring' that cutting-edge AI firms were aiming to build super-intelligent systems without publishing plans to deal with the consequences. He said: 'It's as if someone is building a gigantic nuclear power plant in New York City and it is going to open next week – but there is no plan to prevent it having a meltdown.' Tegmark said the technology was continuing to outpace expectations, citing a previously held belief that experts would have decades to address the challenges of AGI. 'Now the companies themselves are saying it's a few years away,' he said. He added that progress in AI capabilities had been 'remarkable' since the global AI summit in Paris in February, with new models such as xAI's Grok 4, Google's Gemini 2.5, and its video generator Veo3, all showing improvements on their forebears. A Google DeepMind spokesperson said the reports did not take into account 'all of Google DeepMind's AI safety efforts'. They added: 'Our comprehensive approach to AI safety and security extends well beyond what's captured.' OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, xAI, Zhipu AI and DeepSeek have also been approached for comment.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
US Senate passes aid and public broadcasting cuts in victory for Trump
The US Senate has approved Donald Trump's plan for billions of dollars in cuts to funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, handing the Republican president another victory as he exerts control over Congress with little opposition. The Senate voted 51 to 48 in favour of Trump's request to cut $9bn in spending already approved by Congress. Most of the cuts are to programmes to assist foreign countries stricken by disease, war and natural disasters, but the plan also eliminates the $1.1bn the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was due to receive over the next two years. Trump and many of his fellow Republicans argue that spending on public broadcasting is an unnecessary expense and reject its news coverage as blighted by 'anti-right bias'. Standalone rescissions packages have not passed in decades, with lawmakers reluctant to cede their constitutionally mandated control of spending. But the Republicans, who hold narrow majorities in the Senate and House, have shown little appetite for resisting Trump's policies since he began his second term in January. The $9bn at stake is small in the context of the $6.8tn federal budget, and represents a tiny portion of all the funds approved by Congress that the Trump administration has held up while it has pursued sweeping cuts, many ordered by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (Dog)e. By mid-June, Trump was blocking $425bn in funding that had been appropriated and approved by Congress, according to Democratic lawmakers tracking frozen funding. However, the president and his supporters have promised more of the 'rescission' requests to eliminate previously approved spending in what they say is an effort to pare back the federal government. The House of Representatives passed the rescissions legislation, without altering Trump's request, by 214-212 last month. Four Republicans joined 208 Democrats in voting no. But after a handful of Republican senators balked at the extent of the cuts to global health programmes, Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on Tuesday that Pepfar, a global programme to fight HIV/Aids launched in 2003 by President George W Bush, was being exempted. The change brought the size of the package of cuts to $9bn from $9.4bn, requiring another House vote before the measure could be sent to the White House for Trump to sign into law. The rescissions must pass by Friday. Otherwise, the request would expire and the White House required to adhere to spending plans passed by Congress. Two of the Senate's 53 Republicans , Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, joined Democrats in voting against the legislation. 'You don't need to gut the entire Corporation for Public Broadcasting,' Murkowski said told the Senate Sign up to First Thing Our US morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion She said the Trump administration had not provided assurances that battles against diseases such as malaria and polio worldwide would be maintained. Murkowski called for Congress to assert its role in deciding how federal funds were spent. The Republican Senate majority leader, John Thune of South Dakota, called Trump's request a 'small, but important step toward fiscal sanity'. Democrats scoffed at that, noting that congressional Republicans had this month passed a massive package of tax and spending cuts that nonpartisan analysts estimated would add more than $3tn to the country's $36.2tn debt. Democrats accused Republicans of giving up Congress's constitutionally mandated control of federal spending. 'Today, Senate Republicans turn this chamber into a subservient rubber stamp for the executive, at the behest of Donald Trump,' Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, representing New York, said. 'Republicans embrace the credo of cut, cut, cut now, and ask questions later.' The cuts would overturn bipartisan spending agreements most recently passed in a full-year stopgap funding bill in March. Democrats warn a partisan cut could make it more difficult to negotiate government funding bills that must pass with bipartisan agreement by 30 September to avoid a shutdown. Appropriations bills require 60 votes to move ahead in the Senate but the rescissions package needs just 51, meaning Republicans can pass it without Democratic support.
Scottish Sun
3 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Jaguar Land Rover axing up to 500 jobs in the UK – months after backlash over ‘woke' rebrand
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) JAGUAR Land Rover is axing up to 500 jobs in the UK just weeks after receiving backlash over its "woke" rebrand. The iconic British manufacturer said that a large number of managerial jobs would be cut, saying it would offer voluntary redundancies. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Jaguar unveiled a controversial new concept car leaving the motoring world divided Credit: PA 4 The revamped logo and badge courted criticism and ignited strong reactions from fans and critics alike 4 Jaguar's new pink EV was slammed as 'just a woke Tesla' Credit: Jaguar Jaguar Land Rover is making the swinging cuts amid pressure on sales due to trade tariff woes. The Tata-owned firm said around 1.5 per cent of its UK workforce would be affected by the job cuts. A spokesperson for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) said: "As part of normal business practice, we regularly offer eligible employees the opportunity to leave JLR through limited voluntary redundancy programmes." The car giant previously warned that tariffs on British made motors being sold to the US would have a direct hit on its profits. It comes after the iconic British car manufacturer sparked outrage in November when it launched a glossy ad campaign with bright colours and catwalk models. Soon after, it unveiled the bizarre Type 00 concept car - a large, pink grand tourer - as well as a much-maligned new logo and badge. The likes of Nigel Farage and even Elon Musk led the critics, with Farage describing it as "woke" and warned the automaker risked "going bust" due to its new design choice. Musk turned the knife on X, simply asking Jaguar "Do you sell cars?" Earlier this month it was revealed that Jaguar sales in Europe have plunged 97.5 per cent following the botched rebrand. Jaguar boss doubles down & DEFENDS new 'woke Tesla' pink EV in controversial rebrand The luxury British automaker registered just 49 vehicles in Europe in April, compared with 1,961 vehicles in the same month last year, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. Jaguar's wild transition has long been on the cards. Last year, executives made the call to discontinue their flagship petrol motors, including the XE, XF and F-Type, as well as E-Pace and I-Pace EVs. Indeed, only the F-Pace will continue into 2026 - although it's been pulled from the UK market along with the rest of the aforementioned models. Jag then plans to fully relaunch next year as an all-electric brand, selling high-end, zero-emissions cars badged with its redesigned logo. To that end, the company has invested heavily in new designs, concept cars and other ads to go with the reveal. Defending the campaign last year, JLR's Managing Director Rawdon Glover said to the Financial Times: 'If we play in the same way that everybody else does, we'll just get drowned out.'
