Military & Defense - Maginative

Military & Defense

Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, xAI just scored the DoD’s Biggest AI Deal Yet

Chris McKay• July 14, 2025 • 2 min read

The Pentagon’s Chief Digital and AI Office has inked prototype contracts worth up to $200 million apiece with Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI to push frontier AI tools directly into defense workflows.

xAI Military & Defense Grok

xAI Launches Grok for Government, Announces DoD Contract

Chris McKay• July 14, 2025 • 3 min read

xAI announced Grok for Government, securing a $200M Defense Department contract and GSA schedule access, joining OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google in the race to supply AI tools to federal agencies.

OpenAI Military & Defense

OpenAI Awarded $200M US Defense Contract, Announces OpenAI for Government

Chris McKay• June 17, 2025 • 2 min read

OpenAI has clinched a one-year, $200 million contract—its first with the U.S. Defense Department—kicking off a new “OpenAI for Government” program and intensifying the race to supply generative AI to national-security agencies.

Anthropic Military & Defense

Anthropic's New Government AI Models Signal the Defense Tech Gold Rush is Real

Chris McKay• June 5, 2025 • 3 min read

Anthropic has unveiled “Claude Gov,” a line of AI models custom-built for U.S. national security agencies—marking a deeper, quieter step into the intelligence-industrial complex.

Anduril Meta Military & Defense

Meta Partners with Palmer Luckey's Anduril to Build XR Tech for American Soldiers

Chris McKay• May 29, 2025 • 4 min read

Meta and Anduril announced a partnership to develop military AR/VR systems, marking Palmer Luckey's return to working with his former company after a dramatic 2017 exit.

Palantir Military & Defense

Palantir Delivers First AI-Powered TITAN Systems to U.S. Army

Chris McKay• March 7, 2025 • 2 min read

Palantir Technologies has delivered the first AI-enabled TITAN targeting systems to the U.S. Army, marking a shift in battlefield technology that fuses advanced data processing with military hardware to enhance long-range strike capabilities.

Google Military & Defense

Google Shifts AI Policy, Removes Weapons and Surveillance Restrictions

Chris McKay• February 4, 2025 • 1 min read

DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis and Senior VP James Manyika framed the update as an alignment with democratic values and national security.

Venture Capital Startups Military & Defense

Overland AI Raises $32 Million to Advance Ground Autonomy for Defense

Chris McKay• January 13, 2025 • 2 min read

The Seattle-based startup develops cutting-edge autonomous systems to protect soldiers and reshape land operations.

Palantir Anduril Military & Defense

Palantir and Anduril Lead Silicon Valley Consortium to Bid for Pentagon Contracts

Chris McKay• December 22, 2024 • 3 min read

Traditional defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Boeing face their first serious challenge to their decades-long dominance of military contracts.

Palantir Military & Defense

Shield AI and Palantir Join Forces on Autonomous Defense Operations

Chris McKay• December 6, 2024 • 2 min read

They’re bringing together Shield AI’s Hivemind autonomy software and Palantir’s intelligence tools to help military operators coordinate quicker and with greater precision.

Scale Meta Military & Defense

Scale AI and Meta Introduce Defense Llama: A Custom AI Model for U.S. National Security

Chris McKay• November 5, 2024 • 2 min read

Defense Llama is only available in controlled U.S. government environments through Scale Donovan. The model assists with critical tasks including military operations planning, threat assessment, and response strategy development.

Meta Military & Defense

Meta Opens Llama AI Model to US Military, Defense Contractors

Chris McKay• November 4, 2024 • 2 min read

The partnership includes major players in the defense and technology sectors, with companies like Lockheed Martin, Palantir, and Microsoft joining forces to implement Llama in national security applications.

Anduril Military & Defense

Anduril Unveils Bolt: Compact Autonomous Drones for Military Operations

Chris McKay• October 10, 2024 • 2 min read

Bolt's advanced onboard AI technology automates complex flight maneuvers, freeing operators to focus on critical decision-making rather than navigation.

Anduril Microsoft Military & Defense

Anduril and Microsoft Partner to Supercharge Army's Combat Goggles

Chris McKay• September 19, 2024 • 2 min read

The Lattice software can alert soldiers to incoming threats detected by various systems, even when these threats are beyond visual range. This integration is designed to speed up early warning systems and increase soldier survival rates.

Intel Chips Military & Defense

Intel Receives $3 Billion Grant from U.S. Government to Develop Secure Military Chips

Chris McKay• September 16, 2024 • 2 min read

The Secure Enclave initiative aims to ensure a reliable supply of cutting-edge microelectronics for military and intelligence purposes.

Anduril Military & Defense

Anduril Unveils Barracuda-M, Affordable, Mass-Producible Autonomous Missiles to Bolster U.S. Arsenal

Chris McKay• September 13, 2024 • 3 min read

The Barracuda-M addresses a critical concern within the U.S. defense community: the shortage of missiles capable of deterring or sustaining a conflict with near-peer adversaries like Russia and China.

Palantir Microsoft Military & Defense

Microsoft and Palantir Team Up to Bring AI to Classified U.S. Defense Networks

Chris McKay• August 8, 2024 • 1 min read

Palantir will be the first industry partner to deploy Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service in classified environments.

Venture Capital Startups Military & Defense

Helsing Raises $487M in Series C Funding, Bolstering Europe's AI Defense Capabilities

Chris McKay• July 11, 2024 • 2 min read

The funding round, led by General Catalyst, reportedly values Helsing at $5.4 billion, and drew support from Elad Gil, Accel, Saab, Lightspeed, Plural, and Greenoaks.

Microsoft Military & Defense

Microsoft Deploys Secure, Air-Gapped GPT-4 AI Model for US Intelligence Agencies

Chris McKay• May 8, 2024 • 1 min read

The platform is designed to be used on a secure, government-only network, addressing the security concerns that have previously prevented intelligence agencies from adopting AI technology.

Military & Defense

DARPA's AI Pilot Participates in Real-World Dogfight Tests with Humans

Chris McKay• April 18, 2024 • 2 min read

While the dogfight's outcome has not been publicly disclosed, the mere fact that an AI pilot could engage in such a complex scenario against a skilled human adversary demonstrates the immense potential of AI in aerospace applications.

Palantir Oracle Military & Defense Enterprise AI

Palantir and Oracle Partner to Deliver Secure Cloud and AI Solutions

Chris McKay• April 4, 2024 • 1 min read

The two companies will jointly sell and support cloud and AI services across government and commercial industries.

Venture Capital Startups Military & Defense

Shield AI Secures Additional Series F Funding, Elevating Total to $500M

Chris McKay• December 29, 2023 • 2 min read

This strategic financial boost underscores the growing interest and confidence in the transformative potential of AI in the aerospace and defense sectors.

Anduril Military & Defense

Anduril Unveils Roadrunner: A Tiny, Autonomous and Reusable Fighter Jet

Chris McKay• December 2, 2023 • 3 min read

With its high speeds, modular payloads, vertical takeoff and landing capability, and potential air defense applications, the twin-turbojet drones are ambitious additions to Anduril’s portfolio.

Military & Defense AI Tech

U.S. Department of Defense Releases New AI Strategy to Accelerate AI Adoption

Chris McKay• November 3, 2023 • 2 min read

A key shift in the new strategy is moving away from the idea of building a centralized AI/machine learning pipeline within the DOD.

Venture Capital Startups Military & Defense

Defense Startup Shield AI Raises $200 Million to Scale Autonomous Tech

Chris McKay• October 31, 2023 • 2 min read

The funding will be used to scale and deploy Shield AI’s V-BAT Teams product domestically and internationally and accelerate tech integration with third-party uncrewed platforms.