Pentagon launches custom ChatGPT and Grok for personnel

The Pentagon has launched versions of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and xAI’s Grok, giving 3 million civilian and military personnel access to generative AI tools that have been tailored to “warfighter needs.” ChatGPT Mil and Grok for Government — custom versions of the consumer tools — are now part of GenAI.mil, a centralized, secure portal launched last year that initially offered Google Gemini. The portal is designed to give Department of Defense employees access to commercial frontier AI models without routing sensitive government data through ordinary consumer channels; the official military versions are exempt from the data collection that’s difficult to avoid in consumer tech products. According to the Department of Defense, GenAI.mil has already onboarded more than 1.7 million unique users out of the department’s 3 million personnel.

The additions also highlight the absence of Anthropic’s Claude model, and the Pentagon’s effort to work with other companies following its dispute with the AI lab. Anthropic was labeled a supply-chain risk by the Trump administration — a designation it is currently fighting in court — after the company refused to give the Pentagon unrestricted use of its AI tools and instead insisted on certain safety guardrails.

ChatGPT Mil, which came out of OpenAI’s program for government customers, will offer an experience familiar to commercial ChatGPT users, focusing on chat, files, projects, and custom GPTs; the Defense Department said it will support document-heavy, routine unclassified work such as administrative tasks, logistics, planning, and policy, with more features to be added over time.

The Pentagon positioned Grok’s capabilities in broader, more militaristic terms. According to a Defense Department press release, Grok would allow the military “to execute missions faster and with greater precision across numerous operational contexts, ranging from market research analysis for acquisition professionals to supply-chain management for logisticians.” Grok for Government runs on Starshield AI, SpaceX’s secure satellite network built on its existing Starlink technology. The Pentagon has struck similar deals with a number of other tech companies to boost its AI capabilities, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Reflection AI.

Why it matters

The Pentagon’s model roster is becoming a visible marker of which AI labs are willing to accept government terms on data use and safety guardrails — and which, like Anthropic, are contesting them in court instead.