Defense AI startup Anduril Industries raised $5B in a Series H co-led by Thrive Capital and a16z, doubling its valuation to $61B. The company doubled revenue to $2.2B in 2025 and will fund Arsenal-1 manufacturing expansion and Lattice platform advancement.
The DoD cleared OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, AWS, Oracle, Nvidia, and SpaceX to deploy AI on classified Impact Level 6 and IL7 military networks. Anthropic was labeled a 'supply chain risk' after insisting on safety guardrails for wartime AI use.
Military AI guardrails are still lagging the contracts. Axios reports Google's Gemini can be used in classified settings under an all lawful use Pentagon agreement, a broader frame than the one OpenAI says it accepted.
Reuters reports Google has joined the Pentagon’s classified AI stack and agreed to a contract that can adjust safety settings at government request. The harder question is no longer whether labs work with defense agencies, but how much control they keep after deployment.
The case matters because it goes to who controls a frontier model after deployment in classified systems. In an April 22 filing described by AP, Anthropic told a U.S. appeals court that it cannot manipulate Claude once the model is inside Pentagon networks, pushing back on the government's supply-chain-risk label.
Why it matters: OpenAI is widening access to a more cyber-permissive model instead of leaving advanced defensive workflows inside a tiny pilot. The April 14 post says top Trusted Access tiers can request GPT-5.4-Cyber, and the linked policy says TAC is being expanded to thousands of defenders and hundreds of teams.
Artemis came out of stealth with $70 million and a bet that defenders need an AI-native security brain, not more alert noise. The startup says it has already closed several seven-figure deals and expects multi-million-dollar ARR before the end of 2026.
Cohere and Saab have signed an MOU aimed at bringing advanced AI into GlobalEye and other secure aerospace workflows. The initial scope includes data-driven mission support, maintenance tools, and on-premises information processing in secure environments.
OpenAI published details of its Department of War agreement on February 28, 2026 and added a clarifying update on March 2. The company says the deal is cloud-only, keeps humans in the loop, forbids domestic surveillance of U.S. persons, and bars autonomous-weapons direction and other high-stakes automated decisions.
Sam Altman announced OpenAI reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of War to deploy AI models on classified networks, with core safety principles including bans on domestic mass surveillance and autonomous weapon systems.
On February 17, 2026, OpenAI announced GenAI.mil with the U.S. Department of Defense. The program sets a first-year contract ceiling of up to $200 million and is structured for use across federal agencies and approved providers.
OpenAI announced on February 9, 2026 that ChatGPT Gov is being deployed within GenAI.mil in partnership with CDAO and Booz Allen. The program starts in isolated government environments and is designed to scale toward 500,000 defense and civilian personnel.