OpenAI Brings ChatGPT to Pentagon as Military Pushes for Expanded AI Access

OpenAI announced Monday that it is bringing a custom version of ChatGPT to GenAI.mil, the Department of War’s secure enterprise AI platform, making its flagship product available to all 3 million civilian and military personnel across the armed services.

The partnership marks the latest commitment by a major AI company to integrate generative tools directly into the daily workflow of America’s fighting force.

“We believe the people responsible for defending the country should have access to the best tools available,” OpenAI said in a press release. “It is important for the United States and other democratic countries to understand how, with the proper safeguards, AI can help protect people, deter adversaries, and prevent future conflict.” 

The AI-first Pentagon

For the War Department, the partnership is less about experimentation and more about momentum.

GenAI.mil, launched just two months ago, has already surpassed one million unique users across all military services. Department officials say the platform has maintained 100% uptime since deployment and is now viewed internally as the trusted standard for generative AI across the joint force.

“GenAI.mil’s rapid rise reflects a decisive cultural and technological shift,” the War Department said in its own announcement, “validating the Department’s commitment to being an AI-first enterprise.”

ChatGPT will join other large language models already available on the platform, including Google’s Gemini and Elon Musk’s xAI. The goal, officials say, is to make frontier AI capabilities the standard for daily operations, not a niche tool reserved for tech-savvy units.

According to both OpenAI and the War Department, the tool is being deployed for distinctly administrative purposes. The custom ChatGPT will support unclassified tasks, including summarizing policy and guidance documents, drafting procurement materials, generating internal reports and compliance checklists, and assisting with research and planning workflows.

The classified question

But the unclassified deployment may only be the beginning.

According to an exclusive Reuters report, the Pentagon is actively pushing top AI companies to expand onto classified networks, the kind used for mission planning, sensitive operations, and, potentially, weapons targeting.

During a White House event this week, Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael told tech executives that the military aims to make AI models available “across all classification levels,” two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

That effort, however, faces significant hurdles. Reuters previously reported that Anthropic, maker of the Claude chatbot, has clashed with the Pentagon over restrictions barring its AI from being used for autonomous lethal operations or domestic surveillance. OpenAI, for its part, said Monday’s agreement is specific to unclassified use through GenAI.mil. Expanding to classified settings would require a new or modified agreement, a company spokesperson said.

OpenAI received a contract worth up to $200 million from the US Department of Defense, which is managed by the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, eWeek reported last June. 

OpenAI emphasized that its models deployed on GenAI.mil “incorporate safeguards at the model and platform level” and support “all lawful uses.” The company did not specify whether those safeguards differ from its commercial terms of service; however, Reuters reported that as part of the deal, OpenAI agreed to remove many of its typical user restrictions, although some guardrails remain.

The ChatGPT integration aligns with the President’s White House AI Action Plan and the War Department’s AI Acceleration Strategy, released last month. War Secretary Pete Hegseth previously declared that “the future of American warfare is here, and it’s spelled AI.”

Also read: AI predictions for 2026 show how governance and agentic systems are reshaping how organizations roll out generative AI at scale.

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