Pentagon Certifies 8 Firms for Classified AI Deployment

The U.S. Department of Defense announced Friday that it has entered agreements with eight technology firms—SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, Nvidia, Reflection, Microsoft, Oracle, and Amazon Web Services—to deploy advanced artificial intelligence on classified military networks, according to the Pentagon’s official statement.

Security Standards and Network Requirements

The AI systems will operate at Impact Level 6 and Impact Level 7, Department of Defense security standards for classified data. IL6 covers secret-level information, while IL7 is used for more sensitive intelligence systems designed to handle highly restricted national security data. The AI must operate on tightly controlled infrastructure with strict access controls, network isolation, and clearance requirements.

GenAI.mil Platform Adoption

The agreements build on the Pentagon’s internal platform, GenAI.mil, launched in December with Google Gemini. According to the Department of Defense, more than 1.3 million personnel have used the platform to generate tens of millions of prompts and deploy hundreds of thousands of AI agents in five months. The Pentagon said the system will support data analysis, situational awareness, and decision-making, and is designed to use multiple AI providers rather than rely on a single vendor.

Budget and Strategic Context

The Pentagon said the agreements build on existing federal investment in these companies, which already hold contracts across cloud computing, data infrastructure, and AI. The announcement did not disclose the value of the new contracts. In its 2026 budget request, the Department of Defense said it is seeking a total of $961.6 billion, including $33.7 billion earmarked for science and technology and autonomous systems.

“These agreements accelerate the transformation toward establishing the United States military as an AI-first fighting force and will strengthen our warfighters’ ability to maintain decision superiority across all domains of warfare,” the Pentagon said.

Related Pentagon AI Contracts

The classified network agreements are part of a broader push to integrate AI across military operations. In March 2025, the Pentagon contracted Scale AI to build the Thunderforge planning system. In July 2025, the Pentagon reached deals with OpenAI to incorporate ChatGPT and with rival firm xAI to incorporate its Grok AI model. Last month, the Department of Defense reached a deal with Google for classified AI work.

According to a report cited in the announcement, the NSA began deploying Anthropic’s Claude Mythos on classified networks despite an ongoing dispute with the company.

Vendor Statements

An OpenAI spokesperson told Decrypt: “As we said when we first announced our agreement several months ago, we believe the people defending the United States should have the best tools in the world.”

An Amazon Web Services spokesperson, Tim Barrett, told Decrypt: “For more than a decade, AWS has been committed to supporting our nation’s military and ensuring that our warfighters and defense partners have access to the best technology at the best value. We look forward to continuing to support the Department of Defense’s modernization efforts, building AI solutions that help them accomplish their critical missions.”

SpaceX, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Google did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.

Oversight and Transparency Concerns

Critics have raised concerns about the Pentagon’s AI deployment plan. Greg Nojeim, director of the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Security and Surveillance Project, told Decrypt: “The DoD announcement that it has agreed to deploy AI on classified networks raises more questions than it answers. How will DoD use the AI that it deploys, and how will it ensure that such use does not result in errant decisions with lethal impact? Will it use AI to further supercharge surveillance, including surveillance of Americans? This announcement only underlines the need for more transparency about the DoD’s use and oversight of AI.”

Presidential Mandate

“As mandated by President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, the Department will continue to envelop our warfighters with advanced AI to meet the unprecedented emerging threats of tomorrow and to strengthen our Arsenal of Freedom,” the Pentagon said.