The Pentagon on Monday announced contracts with billionaire Elon Musk's xAI, which has faced intense scrutiny in recent days over antisemitic posts by its Grok chatbot.
Announced on Monday by Musk's company xAI, the $200 million (£149m) contract is part of its "Grok for Government" programme, and aligns with the Trump administration's push for aggressive adoption of artificial intelligence, reported BBC.
It is a part of a wider rollout of AI tools for government use and contracts have been awarded to multiple leading US artificial intelligence firms, the Department of Defence confirmed.
In addition to the Pentagon contract, "every federal government department, agency, or office (can now) purchase xAI products" thanks to its inclusion on an official supplier list, xAI said.
The contract with xAI comes days after the company was forced to apologise again for controversial posts by its Grok chatbot.
After an update on July 7, the chatbot praised Adolf Hitler in some responses on Musk-owned X, denounced "anti-white hate," and described Jewish representation in Hollywood as "disproportionate."
Musk said the bot was "too compliant" and "too eager to please". He said the issue was being addressed.
xAI also apologised for the extremist and offensive messages, and said it had corrected the instructions that led to the incidents.
On Monday, hackers broke into the X account of Sesame Street character Elmo and posted antisemitic and racist messages, the makers of the children's TV show.
Some recent deleted posts had called for violence against Jews, insulted President Donald Trump and demanded the release of government files on accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged clientele.
Since Musk bought X, what was then known as Twitter in 2022, he has cut back on moderation. Extremist content has increased, causing some advertisers to pull away from the platform, according to reports.
Musk, a top backer of Donald Trump's most recent presidential campaign, was entrusted with managing the new agency known as DOGE to massively slash government spending under the current administration.
After ending his assignment in May, the South African-born entrepreneur criticised Trump's major budget bill for increasing government debt and both had a public spat.
Since then, Trump had suggested DOGE could be deployed to harm Musk's companies.
Trump also suggested he might deport Musk, who is an American citizen and was born in South Africa. He also holds Canadian citizenship.
The president and the businessman engaged in heated exchanges on social media and in public statements before Musk apologised for some of his more combative messages.
The government and the defense sector are considered a potential growth driver for AI giants.
Grok was introduced in late 2023 as a more unfiltered alternative to other AI chatbots like ChatGPT.
