The Pentagon has awarded OpenAI a €200 million contract to develop advanced AI systems for military use by 2026.

OpenAI Public Sector LLC has been awarded a $200 million contract by the US Department of Defense to design military artificial intelligence prototypes. The project aims to meet critical national security needs for both combat operations and the Pentagon’s internal management systems. The mission will run until July 2026, with initial funding of nearly €2 million from the 2025 budget dedicated to research and evaluation. This partnership illustrates a growing trend among the US armed forces to rely on technologies from the private sector, particularly for the development of cutting-edge AI capabilities, known as “frontier AI,” capable of analyzing data in complex environments, assisting in tactical decision-making, and even detecting emerging threats. OpenAI’s involvement in the military sector also raises questions about governance, operational ethics, and dependence on proprietary technologies.

A strategic contract between OpenAI and the Pentagon

The €200 million (approximately $214 million) contract awarded to OpenAI Public Sector LLC is part of a clear Pentagon policy to modernize its digital and decision-making capabilities. The contract was formalized under reference HQ0883-25-9-0012 as part of an “other transaction” procedure, a legal method that allows certain administrative burdens in traditional public tenders to be circumvented.

OpenAI Public Sector LLC, a separate legal entity from OpenAI, was created to enable direct collaboration with government institutions, particularly in the areas of security and defense. The first immediate payment, equivalent to €1.85 million, comes from the 2025 R&D budget. The remainder will be allocated gradually on the basis of interim evaluations.

This strategic choice confirms the Department of Defense’s desire to rely on civilian actors with powerful IT infrastructure and rapid development cycles, which are often inaccessible to traditional suppliers in the military-industrial complex.

The technical objectives of the project: combat AI and operational resilience

The title of the call for tenders specifies that the objective is to develop frontier AI capabilities. This term refers to latest-generation machine learning models, often derived from so-called foundation models, capable of processing massive data flows in real time, in environments characterized by uncertainty, noise, and adversarial threats.

Expected use cases include:

• multisource data mining in conflict zones (satellite imagery, sensors, drones),
• decision support in tactical contexts,
• prediction of adversarial behavior via algorithmic simulation,
• automated logistics optimization in contested environments.

The project covers both the tactical (warfare) and organizational (enterprise domain) domains, with the ambition of creating tools that can be transferred between war zones and internal command systems.

Prototypes are expected to be delivered by July 2026, with successive phases of demonstration, testing, and integration into existing systems. This schedule requires a sustained pace, which can only be maintained by mobilizing OpenAI’s core technical teams, known for developing GPT-4 and its specialized derivatives.

The rise of military AI programs in the United States since 2018

Since 2018, the US Department of Defense has accelerated its investment in artificial intelligence, notably by creating the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), now part of the Chief Digital and AI Office (CDAO). This office is responsible for coordinating the implementation of AI technologies across all branches of the armed forces.

The Pentagon’s annual budget for AI technologies was estimated at more than $2.5 billion in 2024. This figure is constantly increasing, driven by technological competition with China, which is investing heavily in dual-use (civilian/military) technologies through its digital giants such as Baidu and Huawei.

The main areas of funding are:

• decision support systems for joint command,
• autonomous reconnaissance and attack drones,
• predictive analytics-based cybersecurity,
• and intelligent simulators for training.

The contract awarded to OpenAI is therefore part of a favorable budgetary ecosystem, but also a highly competitive one. Other technology companies such as Palantir, Anduril, and Shield AI have already won similar contracts to develop systems integrating image processing, autonomous control, and multisensor fusion.

Industrial challenges and ethical implications of using OpenAI

OpenAI’s entry into the US military-industrial complex raises several issues. On the industrial front, it reinforces the trend toward outsourcing critical functions to private companies with advanced algorithmic expertise. On the ethical front, it calls into question the principles of governance for autonomous systems used for lethal or decision-making purposes.

Since 2019, OpenAI had publicly expressed reservations about the military use of its technologies. Its change of position through the creation of its “Public Sector” subsidiary illustrates a strategic adjustment motivated by the need for large-scale funding, but also by the desire to retain direct influence in the design of automated military systems rather than leaving this role to third parties.

This decision has many practical implications:

• Increased dependence of the Pentagon on proprietary models whose source code is not always transparent.
• Risk of algorithmic bias, particularly in target prioritization or behavior classification models.
• Legal debate over liability for damage caused by AI-assisted or AI-made decisions.

The US regulatory framework remains unclear on these points, although several congressional reports have recommended the establishment of an operational ethics charter for military AI.

A global race to militarize artificial intelligence

The US is not alone in committing resources to the development of military AI. China, Russia, France, and Israel are also investing in this field, with varying levels of transparency.

In China, programs are led by the Military-Civil Fusion Office, with opaque funding estimated at several billion euros annually. The country is particularly focused on developing intelligent swarm drones and cognitive warfare systems designed to disrupt enemy command chains.

In Russia, despite technological delays, the military-industrial complex is attempting to make up for its shortcomings by modernizing its cyber capabilities and integrating algorithms into air defense systems.

In Europe, France is developing demonstrators such as ARTEMIS and Man Machine Teaming through the Directorate General of Armament (DGA), with a more limited budget (around €350 million over five years).

The awarding of this contract to OpenAI shows that the United States wants to maintain its technological leadership by relying on its national champions capable of producing both rapid innovations and the ability to adapt to operational needs.

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