Alphabet Inc’s Google has deepened its operational relationship with the United States Department of Defense (DoD), quietly signing a wide-ranging agreement to deploy artificial intelligence models in highly classified environments.
The move, first reported on Tuesday by tech publication The Information, citing a source familiar with the negotiations, signals a shift in the technological landscape. It strengthens the integration of commercial generative AI into military strategy and intelligence gathering. According to the report, the agreement allows the Pentagon to use Google’s most advanced models for “any lawful government purpose,” a broad mandate covering defensive logistics and potentially offensive cyber and intelligence operations.
Reuters could not independently verify the reported contract terms. Both Alphabet Inc. and the Department of Defense declined to comment. However, a spokesperson for Google Public Sector - the unit handling U.S. government business - told The Information the arrangement is an amendment to existing federal contracts.
Google’s move into classified AI marks the latest step in a multi-billion-dollar competition among major technology firms for Pentagon contracts. The U.S. military is seeking to modernise legacy systems to keep pace with technological advances by rivals, particularly China.
In late 2025, the Pentagon signed agreements worth up to $200 million each with leading AI developers, including Anthropic, OpenAI and Google. With this new classified access, Google joins OpenAI and xAI in allowing their large language models to be used in “air-gapped” national security systems.
The Department of Defense has sought flexibility in procuring digital tools, aiming to avoid restrictions linked to ethical guidelines set by developers. Some technology leaders have previously warned against using AI systems for lethal applications, citing risks such as unreliable or inaccurate outputs.
For Google, the deal marks a notable shift. In 2018, the company faced internal protests over “Project Maven”, a DoD initiative using its image-recognition technology to analyse drone footage. Thousands of employees signed petitions opposing the project, arguing the company should not support military operations. Google later withdrew and introduced AI principles pledging not to develop technologies primarily intended to cause harm.
As the AI sector has expanded and financial stakes have risen, Alphabet’s leadership appears to have reassessed its position. The creation of Google Public Sector signalled renewed engagement with U.S. government work. Employee activism seen during the Project Maven controversy has since diminished amid restructuring, layoffs and growing geopolitical competition in AI.
The development comes amid broader shifts in Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump has issued an executive order calling for the Department of Defense to be renamed the “Department of War”, a term last used before 1947. Any change would require congressional approval and is likely to face debate, but it reflects an increasingly assertive national security stance and expectations for closer alignment with private technology partners.
Police fired tear gas at protesters blockading French high schools on Tuesday as students, teachers and parents to...
A large Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow and the surrounding region has killed two people, damaged homes and sparked a major fire at a key fuel fac...
Kenya has confirmed its first case of Ebola after a Kenyan citizen who had travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) died in Nairobi, p...
Australian counterterrorism authorities are examining the links of the co-pilot accused of attacking the captain and attempting to take control of a flydubai flight bound for Israel. Authorities in New Zealand have also said they are investigating reports the suspect had spent time in that country.
Right-wing Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro will face leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a runoff of the presidential election later this month, after he exceeded expectations in Sunday's first-round vote with a slight lead over the incumbent.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said that the United States will 'help' Russia after a laboratory worker died at a plague research institute in Siberia.
Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad has resigned, with Hamid Bovard, chief executive of the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), appointed as acting oil minister, according to Iranian state media.
Candidates elected to Bosnia and Herzegovina's three-member presidency declared victory after preliminary unofficial results showed Denis Becirovic leading the Bosniak seat, Darijana Filipovic ahead in the Croat seat and Zeljka Cvijanovic likely retaining the Serb seat.
OpenAI and Anthropic told Australian parliament on Tuesday they would welcome laws requiring them to report data breaches carried out by their AI agents, acknowledging the decision to notify authorities was currently at their discretion.
Most people meet artificial intelligence (AI) through a phone. It suggests the next word, sorts the photos, flags the odd charge on a bank card. But the technology has been quietly moving into places where mistakes cost more: the systems that run banks, hospitals, businesses and government offices.
A four-person crew aboard SpaceX's Crew-13 mission, consisting of two U.S. astronauts, a Canadian astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut, arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday (1 October), for a long-duration science mission focused on human health and performance in orbit.
The European Space Agency (ESA), Airbus and European partners have put a six-wheeled Mars rover prototype through its paces in Spain’s Tabernas desert, simulating conditions expected on a future mission to the Red Planet.
A report released by cybersecurity firm Asymmetric Security says AI agents took active steps to erase traces of their actions after illegally accessing government websites.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment