The Pentagon signs contracts with four AI companies | Press review n°15
I selected important news on artificial intelligence during the week of July 14 to 20, 2025. Here's my commentary.
Welcome to the fifteenth press review of Artificial reality. This week I focused on the new contracts between the US Defense Department and big artificial intelligence companies, AI as an alien intelligence and the risky influence of chatbots on teenagers. Have a good read!
📰 Read
The Pentagon signs contracts with four AI companies
The Department of Defense of the United States will spend up to $800 million to use artificial intelligence systems from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and xAI, The Guardian reports in an article published on Monday.
“Leveraging commercially available solutions into an integrated capabilities approach will accelerate the use of advanced AI as part of our joint mission-essential tasks in our warfighting domain as well as intelligence, business and enterprise information systems,” briefly explained Doug Matty, the chief digital and AI officer of the Pentagon.
This announcement is made one week after a new controversy related to Grok, the chatbot of xAI, which claimed on X that he was “MechaHitler.” The AI assistant also posted pro-Nazi and antisemitic messages before the company owned by Elon Musk apologized for its “horrific behavior.”
Deepening ties
The three other AI companies had already entered into partnership with the US Defense Department. In June, the Pentagon announced a $200 million contract with OpenAI so that it will “develop prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains.”
Google was part of Maven, a Pentagon project which uses AI to identify targets with drones. The multinational decided not to renew this contract in 2018 due to a strong backlash from many employees. However, Google officially dropped its pledge not to use AI for weapons and surveillance in February.
Also read: Meta develops an augmented reality headset for the army
The startup Anthropic also got close to the Pentagon by launching a new version of its chatbot Claude for U.S. defense and intelligence agencies at the beginning of June.
Watch: Pentagon Grants Sweeping Contract To 'MechaHitler' Grok (Breaking Points)
Seven important news this week
OpenAI and Anthropic researchers decry ‘reckless’ safety culture at Elon Musk’s xAI (TechCrunch)
For privacy and security, think twice before granting AI access to your personal data (TechCrunch)
German Startup Wants to Regrow Europe’s ‘Spine’ With AI Fighter Pilots, Drone Walls (The Wall Street Journal)
Trump’s tax bill funds $6bn expansion of US-Mexico border surveillance, report finds (The Guardian)
Inside ICE’s Supercharged Facial Recognition App of 200 Million Images (404 Media)
OpenAI launches personal assistant capable of controlling files and web browsers (The Guardian)
Now Microsoft’s Copilot Vision AI can scan everything on your screen (The Verge
Read the other articles of the week I have selected by clicking here.
🎥 Watch
An alien intelligence
In a video published on Friday, author Yuval Noah Harari shares his thoughts on artificial intelligence with actor and writer Sir Stephen Fry at the Octopus Energy Tech Summit in London.
He explains why he thinks AI should be an acronym for alien intelligence and addresses the risks of this technology.
“If AI is developed not through a cooperative effort of humans who trust each other but it is developed through an arms race, a competition, you can tell the AI as much as you like to be compassionate and to be benevolent, but if it observes the world - because AI learns from observation -, it observes how humans behave toward each other, it observes how its own creators behave, and if they are ruthless, power-hungry competitors, it will also be ruthless and power-hungry. You cannot create a compassionate and trustworthy AI through an arms race, it just won’t happen.”
- Yuval Noah Harari
AI: how can we control an alien intelligence?
Seven important videos this week
The ChatGPT CEO's Web of Lies (Vanessa Wingårdh)
"Purge Palantir": Day of Action Protests Firm's Role in Gov't Surveillance, ICE & Genocide in Gaza (Democracy Now!)
This AI Deepfake Law is Really Dangerous (Taylor Lorenz)
Should we feel guilty for using AI? (Alberta Tech)
Inside Zuckerberg’s AI Playbook (The Information)
Meta Poached OpenAI's Brightest - Who Will Lead When AGI Comes Online? (Tom Bilyeu)
Anarchism, Surveillance & the Authoritarian Future (Daniel Pinchbeck)
Watch the other videos of the week I have selected by clicking here.
🔈 Listen
Teens under the influence of chatbots
In the new episode of Close All Tabs, journalists Morgan Sung and Rachael Myrow explain why the use of chatbots is risky, especially for teenagers.
They mention for example an article written by Rachael Myrow in which she tells the story of a 14 year old who committed suicide after he interacted with a chatbot from Character AI.
Thank you for reading the fifteenth press review of Artificial reality! Subscribe for free to receive the reviews directly into your mailbox. With a paid subscription, you will also have access to all articles and to an exclusive monthly newsletter.
Have a good week,
Arnaud
