With the award, OpenAI announced the launch of “OpenAI for Government,” an initiative focused on bringing its most advanced AI tools to public servants across the U.S.

Sam Altman-led artificial intelligence (AI) startup OpenAI (OPENAI) has won a U.S. military contract as the company announced an exclusive initiative to cater to the government’s AI needs

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) said San Francisco, California-based OpenAI has been awarded a fixed-amount contract valued at $200 million to develop prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains.

The federal agency said the work will primarily be carried out in the Washington, D.C. area.

The project's estimated completion date is July 2026. The DoD said fiscal year 2025 research, development, test, and evaluation funds of about $2 million were being obligated at the time of award.

In conjunction with the award, OpenAI announced the launch of “OpenAI for Government,” an initiative focused on bringing its most advanced AI tools to public servants across the U.S.

“We're supporting the U.S. government's efforts in adopting best-in-class technology and deploying these tools in service of the public good,” the company said in a blog post.

The new initiative will consolidate the company’s existing efforts to provide its technology to the U.S. government, including previously announced customers and partnerships, and its ChatGPT Gov⁠ product under one umbrella.

OpenAI acknowledged the DoD contract win. “We are proud to share that our first partnership under this new OpenAI for Government initiative will be a pilot program with the U.S. Department of Defense through their Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO),” the company said. 

“This contract, with a $200 million ceiling, will bring OpenAI’s industry-leading expertise to help the Defense Department identify and prototype how frontier AI can transform its administrative operations.”

These operations range from improving how service members and their families get health care to streamlining how they analyze program and acquisition data and supporting proactive cyber defense.

OpenAI’s launch of its ChatGPT large-language model (LLM) in late 2022 catalyzed the AI revolution that has now taken a firm grip. The not-for-profit company, which counts Tesla CEO Elon Musk among its founding members, received over $10 billion in investment from Microsoft in early 2023, augmenting the $1 billion bet made in 2019.

The enhanced partnership allowed OpenAI’s technology to be integrated into the software giant’s products and applications. 

OpenAI is also part of the Trump administration’s AI thrust. The company, along with Softbank, will lead the $500 billion Stargate project to build AI infrastructure across the U.S.

For its part, the U.S. military has expressed its openness to embracing new technologies to enhance its defense capabilities.

When President Donald Trump announced his “Golden Dome” project in late May, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who also attended the briefings, said, “The new autonomous space-age defense ecosystem is more about Silicon Valley than it is about big metal.”

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