US Confirms Musk’s Grok AI Used in Iran Strikes
Photo: REUTERS
United States government has revealed that military forces used Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence tool, Grok, during strikes against Iran. This disclosure appeared in a legal briefing on Tuesday, which AFP has reviewed.
Department of Justice filed the brief to defend the gas turbines powering a massive data centre owned by xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence company. An environmental lawsuit currently targets these turbines.
Federal lawyers argued that the legal challenge “threatens American national, economic, and energy security by seeking to shut off the power supply for artificial intelligence innovation that supports the Department of War’s military operations.”
To bolster their case, prosecutors submitted sworn testimony from Cameron Stanley, the Pentagon’s AI chief. Stanley confirmed that the US military has integrated Grok into Project Maven, a sophisticated AI-assisted targeting programme. While Anthropic’s Claude model initially powered the system, Grok now plays a central role.
Stanley’s statement highlighted the impact of the Maven Smart Systems (MSS), noting they “enabled US forces to deploy over 2,000 munitions to 2,000 distinct targets within 96 hours during Operation Epic Fury.”
He commended the technology, praising “the greatly increased operational efficiency made possible by the Grok Gov Model.”
NAACP, a prominent civil rights organisation, is leading the lawsuit against xAI. They accuse the company of violating the Clean Air Act by operating dozens of turbines without the necessary permits.
The group contends that these machines pollute neighbourhoods where Black Americans predominantly reside. Conversely, xAI maintains that the turbines are temporary and mobile, which they claim exempts them from such regulations.
US government ended its partnership with Anthropic in late February. This move followed the company’s refusal to permit its AI for fully automated strikes or the mass surveillance of American citizens. Consequently, the Pentagon sought collaboration with other tech giants, including Google, OpenAI, and xAI.
This transition has faced internal resistance at other firms; for instance, more than 600 Google employees demanded that their employer refuse to provide AI for classified military tasks.
Despite the shift to new partners, the government admitted in March that forces were still using Claude for the ongoing conflict in Iran.
In a significant corporate move last February, Musk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, merged xAI into his space exploration firm, SpaceX. Following this merger, SpaceX launched the largest IPO in history on 12 June.
Source: Khaleej Times (adapted)
