TNB Tech Minute: Pentagon Strikes Deals with Top AI Companies for Classified Work

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Imani Moise· Host0:29

[upbeat music] Here's your morning TNB Tech Minute for Friday, May 1st. I'm Imani Moise for the Wall Street Journal. The Defense Department has completed agreements with seven tech companies to use their AI capabilities in classified settings, boosting the Pentagon's efforts to gain access to cutting-edge AI tools. The department has struck deals with OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, SpaceX, and a startup called Reflection AI. The agreements show that Silicon Valley power players are open to agreeing to the Defense Department's terms in a way that Anthropic didn't when it rejected a defense contract earlier this year. For many months, Anthropic's Claude models were some of the only AI tools available in classified settings. The department's new deals with Nvidia and Reflection signal a desire to offer highly customizable open source models. Most leading AI models are closed, limiting how users can customize them. A regulatory filing shows Elon Musk's pay package at Tesla totaled over $158