The United States government disclosed in a legal briefing seen by AFP on Tuesday that Elon Musk's artificial intelligence tool, Grok, was utilized in strikes against Iran. The June 15 brief defends the gas turbines powering a massive data center owned by Musk's company, xAI, which are the subject of an environmental lawsuit.
Legal Brief Highlights National Security Concerns
In the brief, the US Department of Justice argued that the lawsuit threatens American national, economic, and energy security by seeking to cut off power for AI innovation that supports the Department of War's military operations. Federal prosecutors presented testimony from Pentagon AI chief Cameron Stanley, who stated under oath that Grok is already in use within Project Maven, the US military's AI-assisted targeting program initially powered by Anthropic's Claude model.
Operational Efficiency Boosted by Grok
Stanley's statement noted that Project Maven's Smart Systems enabled US forces to deploy over 2,000 munitions to 2,000 distinct targets within 96 hours during Operation Epic Fury. He praised Musk's technology and the greatly increased operational efficiency made possible by the Grok Gov Model.
Environmental Lawsuit by NAACP
The NAACP, a civil rights organization defending Black Americans' rights, is suing xAI, accusing it of operating dozens of turbines without permits in violation of the Clean Air Act. The group claims the turbines pollute majority-Black neighborhoods, but xAI argues the turbines are temporary and mobile, thus not subject to regulation.
Shift from Anthropic to Competitors
At the end of February, the US government terminated its contracts with Anthropic after it refused to allow its tools to be used for fully automated strikes or mass surveillance of Americans. The Pentagon then turned to competitors like Google, OpenAI, and xAI to continue its AI pursuits. At Google, over 600 employees demanded the company not provide AI to the military for classified operations. Others have raised broad concerns about AI's threats.
The US military's transition to AI is progressing, though in March the government acknowledged Claude was still being used for the war in Iran. Musk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, folded xAI into his space exploration company SpaceX in February, which executed the largest IPO in history on June 12.
