OpenAI receives $200 million contract from US Defense

The US Department of Defense has awarded OpenAI a $200 million contract to develop artificial intelligence tools for national security applications, according to a Pentagon announcement on Monday. The agreement calls for the ChatGPT creator to build prototype AI systems addressing both military and government operational challenges.

Work under the contract will primarily occur in the Washington, DC area and is scheduled for completion by July 2026. The Pentagon's statement described the project as focusing on "frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains".

The contract follows OpenAI's recent disclosure of $10 billion in annualised revenue as of June, demonstrating the company's rapid growth since launching ChatGPT in 2022. The firm is reportedly seeking additional funding that could value the company at $300 billion.

This military partnership emerges a few months after White House officials issued AI procurement guidelines encouraging competitive development, while explicitly exempting national security systems from certain restrictions, according to a report by Reuters.