Latest news with #GrokforGovernment
Miami Herald
4 hours ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Elon Musk's xAI pushes Grok into Palantir territory
Elon Musk's 2025 has been far from quiet. Starship explosions, robotaxi reveals, and Twitter wars with President Donald Trump have headlined Musk's chaotic year. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Yet, in the middle of the noise, Musk's AI brainchild in xAI continues moving like clockwork. Moreover, with the newest update, xAI's Grok could be angling to knock on the same high-security doors Palantir's been guarding for years. Image source: Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images Recent months have shown that xAI doesn't lack any ambition or capital. Since its hotly anticipated launch in March 2023, the company has built Colossus, a GPU supercluster that scaled from 100,000 to 200,000 Nvidia units in just 122 days. Now, it's aiming for a million, to position itself as the world's largest AI training platform. That's some serious flex in a market where compute capacity is critical in staying ahead. Musk has kept xAI separate from Tesla, though he's alluded to a future shareholder vote on deeper investment. The great thing is that the strategy is clear with xAI. Related: Elon Musk's xAI is already shockingly massive A key focus for the AI upstart is to develop frontier large language model (LLM) development across government, defense, and commercial domains. At the same time, the goal is to seamlessly embed Grok into Tesla cars and Optimus humanoid robots for edge deployment. The funding numbers are just incredible. xAI recently secured $10 billion, split evenly between a $5 billion equity raise and a $5 billion debt package arranged by Morgan Stanley. That round took its meteoric valuation to $113 billion, thanks in part to a $2 billion boost from SpaceX. Now, talks suggest a new raise that could take its value to between $170 billion and $200 billion. More Tech Stock News: Cathie Wood drops bold message on Apple, Tesla stockGoogle Brain founder has an unexpected one-word message on AIUnsung AI stock pops after joining S&P 500 That's a monstrous jump from early estimates of $33 billion to $80 billion. Some call it hype. Others say it's the price of building the most potent AI infrastructure at scale. Elon Musk's xAI is taking things up a notch with his government work, and not quietly. Just days after the Grok 4 reveal, Musk has now "Grok for Government," a customized suite of AI tools for federal, state, and local agencies. The move signals Musk's intent to jump into the high-stakes defense-grade AI world. The announcement comes with some real muscle. xAI secured a massive new Department of Defense contract with a $200 million ceiling, standing alongside tech giants like Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. While that sum is relatively modest next to bigger contracts, it's a powerful entry point for a company still in its nascence. "Supporting the critical missions of the United States Government is a key part of this mission," xAI said in a statement. Related: JPMorgan reveals 9 stocks with major problems The Department's Chief Digital and AI Officer Doug Matty echoed that urgency, saying the government must adopt commercial AI tools in warfighting and intelligence efforts. For Musk, it's more than a business deal. Grok's powerful future is linked closely to Tesla's broader ecosystem, and this unusual overlap puts Musk's fingerprints all over the next generation of U.S. AI capabilities. Could this be a direct challenge to Palantir? More importantly, though, the arrival of Grok for Government can effectively take xAI in direct competition with Palantir. Palantir has effectively become the U.S. government's go-to name in mission-critical analytics. It pulled in a whopping $1.2 billion from U.S. government contracts in 2024, a robust 30% jump YOY, with deep roots in defense and intelligence through its Gotham and Foundry platforms. However, where Palantir leans on Big Data fusion and tailor-made deployments, Grok offers greater agility. xAI's tools could potentially offer faster rollouts and flexible API integrations. Early signs of traction have already been emerging, with reports that the General Services Administration is exploring Grok, pointing to stronger civilian agency adoption. If Grok could match or beat Palantir on speed, cost, or ease of use, we could see Musk's name plastered on more than just SpaceX rockets and EVs. With AI looking to reshape military logistics and fraud detection, the real battle may be over who defines the next phase of American power. Related: Moody's drops 2-word warning on housing market The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
American Military News
7 hours ago
- Business
- American Military News
Pentagon awards major contracts to artificial intelligence companies
The Pentagon is awarding up to $200 million for xAI's 'Grok for Government' and multiple other artificial intelligence platforms as the Department of Defense attempts to increase its artificial intelligence capabilities. In a Monday press release, the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office announced contract awards to multiple artificial intelligence companies to help the Pentagon 'accelerate' its 'adoption of advanced AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges.' According to the press release, the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office awarded xAI, Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic with up to $200 million contract awards to help the Department of Defense 'leverage the technology and talent of U.S. frontier AI companies to develop agentic AI workflows across a variety of mission areas.' The Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office explained that the new partnerships with xAI, Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic will expand the Department of Defense's 'use of and experience in frontier AI capabilities' and will provide an opportunity for each of the technology companies awarded with government contracts to 'understand and address critical national security needs with the most advanced AI capabilities U.S. industry has to offer.' READ MORE: Pics: US Army tests robot dogs with artificial intelligence rifles 'The adoption of AI is transforming the Department's ability to support our warfighters and maintain strategic advantage over our adversaries,' Department of Defense Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer Dr. Doug Matty said. 'Leveraging commercially available solutions into an integrated capabilities approach will accelerate the use of advanced AI as part of our Joint mission essential tasks in our warfighting domain as well as intelligence, business, and enterprise information systems.' In addition to the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office's press release on Monday, xAI released its own press release announcing a new 'suite of frontier AI products' specifically designed for local, state, and federal government use. The press release noted that 'Grok for Government' offers custom artificial intelligence models for 'national security and critical science applications.' In Monday's press release, xAI also confirmed that 'Grok for Government' will be available for all federal government agencies to purchase and access through the General Services Administration.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Pentagon taps four commercial tech firms to expand military use of AI
The Pentagon announced Monday it has chosen Google, xAI, Anthropic and OpenAI to help the U.S. military expand its use of advanced artificial intelligence capabilities. Each company received a contract worth up to $200 million, according to a notice from the Chief Digital and AI Office. The firms will help the Defense Department develop agentic AI workflows for key national security missions. 'Leveraging commercially available solutions into an integrated capabilities approach will accelerate the use of advanced AI as part of our Joint mission essential tasks in our warfighting domain as well as intelligence, business, and enterprise information systems,' Chief Digital and AI Officer Doug Matty said in a statement. The military services have adopted generative AI tools to varying degrees and for a range of tasks — from tech support to finding files. Agentic AI uses more advanced reasoning to address and act on more complex challenges. The Pentagon didn't specify what missions the program would support, but the department has said it wants to use AI in areas like intelligence analysis, campaigning, logistics and data collection. Following the announcement, Elon Musk-owned xAI — whose conversational AI chatbot goes by the name Grok — unveiled a U.S. government-specific production line called Grok for Government. Grok has come under scrutiny after an update generated a slew of racists and antisemitic comments. In one instance, the chatbot referred to itself as 'MechaHitler.' The award follows Musk's months-long push from within the White House to slash federal spending. Amid a public falling out earlier this summer, President Donald Trump has threatened to cancel government contracts awarded to Musk's companies. Under this new deal, however, the billionaire's federal work would expand.
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
xAI, Grok lands $200 million US defence contract
The United States government has awarded a defence contract worth up to $200 million to Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, just a week after its flagship chatbot, Grok, came under intense scrutiny for controversial posts. The award, made through the Department of Defense's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO), names xAI as one of several recipients (alongside Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI) selected to help modernise AI capabilities across a range of military operations. According to the CDAO, the funding will support the development of 'agentic AI workflows' for national defence, though specific use cases have not yet been disclosed. The timing of the announcement has sparked controversy. Last week, Grok, the chatbot embedded in Elon Musk's X platform, generated outrage after referring to itself as 'MechaHitler' and making antisemitic generalisations in response to user prompts. The episode triggered condemnation from civil rights groups and members of Congress. xAI issued an apology, blaming the incident on a flawed update that was active for approximately 16 hours and claiming it had since been rolled back. In its statement, the company said instructions given to Grok, such as not avoiding politically offensive content, led to the model abandoning its built-in safety guardrails, resulting in responses that contained 'unethical or controversial opinions.' Despite the backlash, xAI announced on Monday that it is launching 'Grok for Government,' a tailored suite of AI tools meant for US federal agencies. Announcing Grok for Government - a suite of products that make our frontier models available to United States Government customers We are especially excited about two new partnerships for our US Government partners 1) a new contract from the US Department of Defense 2) our… — xAI (@xai) July 14, 2025 The company said these tools would include national security-focused models, classified environment applications, and use cases in scientific research and healthcare. Access to xAI products will also expand via the General Services Administration (GSA) schedule, making them more widely available across departments. Elon Musk's relationship with the federal government has long attracted scrutiny. As head of the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk played a prominent role in reshaping contracting processes, but concerns about conflicts of interest persisted. Though Musk's ties to the Trump administration have since cooled, questions remain about the overlap between his private ventures and public contracts. The deal further intensifies the ongoing debate over the ethical deployment of AI in defence, particularly as generative AI systems increasingly demonstrate unpredictable and, at times, harmful behaviour. Critics argue that awarding such contracts so soon after a public AI failure sends the wrong message about accountability in emerging technology. xAI, for its part, has pledged to build tools aligned with federal standards and stressed that future development for government use would prioritise security, oversight, and ethical constraints. Still, the controversy surrounding Grok has renewed calls for stronger safeguards as AI becomes more deeply integrated into government systems.
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Elon Musk's AI company announces Grok for Government: ‘This allows every federal government department to….'
Elon Musk-owned AI company xAI has signed a multi-million dollar deal with the Pentagon to offer AI chatbot - Grok to United States Government customers. Announcing Grok for Government, the company said 'Today, we're proud to announce Grok For Government – a suite of frontier AI products available to United States Government customers.' The announcement comes days after Grok stirred controversy by praising Adolf Hitler and generating antisemitic responses. In the press release, xAI wrote 'xAI's mission is to create and propagate AI tools to assist humanity in our quest for understanding and knowledge. Supporting the critical missions of the United States Government is a key part of this mission – bringing the best tools and technologies available in the commercial world to our hard-working public servants.' What is Grok for Government Explaining what Grok for Government is, the AI firm said that under this umbrella, it will bring world-class AI tools to federal, local, state, and national security customers. These customers will be able to use the Grok family of products – 'from making everyday government services faster and more efficient to using AI to address unsolved problems in fundamental science and technology.' The partnership will include access to Grok 4 - the company's latest and most advanced model so far. 'Our government partnerships will also bring to bear tools like Deep Search, Tool Use, and more integrations – all of which are industry-leading commercial products,' the company added. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Đây có thể là thời điểm tốt nhất để giao dịch vàng trong 5 năm qua IC Markets Tìm hiểu thêm Undo Offerings under Grok for Government In addition to commercial offering, xAI will make some unique capabilities available to US government customers, like: Custom models for national security and critical science applications available to specific customers. Forward Deployed Engineering and Implementation Support, with USG cleared engineers Custom AI-powered applications to accelerate use cases in healthcare, fundamental science, and national security, to name a few examples Models soon available in classified and other restricted environments Partnerships with xAI to build custom versions for specific mission sets xAI wins $200 million contract from US Department of Defense In addition to Grok for Government deal, xAI has also secured a new $200M ceiling contract with the US Department of Defense. This will allow every federal government department, agency, or office, to access xAI's frontier AI products. How AI gets smart: Unlocking LLMs AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
