How the big AI players (OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta and Anthropic) are competing for the military industry

Different companies dedicated to the technological field have announced new agreements to facilitate the use of their systems for governments like the United States.

The accelerated progress of artificial intelligence (AI) led to this technology gain ground in multiple areas, including industry military .

Signatures like OpenAI , Microsoft , Aim and Anthropic announced new agreements to make it easier for governments to use their systems like that of the United States.

An investigation into Brookings Institute a think tank based in Washington DC, explains how This trend is on the rise. .

According to the organization, The potential value of federal contracts – from the United States – related to AI has increased by almost 1,200% ; from $355 million for the period before August 2022 to $4.6 billion for the period before August 2023.

The study, published in March 2024, also indicates that This increase is almost entirely due to the Ministry of Defense of the North American country. according to the magazine Time .

Some experts suggest that This last figure could have an increase compared to this year .

How Anthropic competes for the military industry

At the beginning of November, Anthropic and Palantir Technologies Inc. announced a partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), to provide U.S. defense and intelligence agencies with access to Claude’s AI models. the company system.

Palantir is a public company in this country specializing in software platforms for analyzing large amounts of data.

According to a press release published by Business Feed it is specifically about the Claude 3 and 3.5 model family .

“This partnership enables an integrated set of technologies to operationalize the use of Claude within Palantir’s AI platform, while the benefits of security, agility, flexibility and sustainability are leveraged that AWS offers.

At the same time, as stated in the letter, the alliance “facilitates the responsible application of AI, which enables use of Claude in Palantir products to support government operations “.

They detail that among the advantages of the association are: “Quickly process large amounts of complex data, improve data-driven insights, identify patterns and trends more efficiently, and streamline document review and preparation.” » .

This, in addition to “helping American officials make more informed decisions in emergency situations, while preserving your authority for decision making. »

They assure that Claude became accessible within Palantir’s AI platform on AWS in early November .

How the big AI players (OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta and Anthropic) are competing for the military industry
How the big names in AI (OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta and Anthropic) compete for the military industry. Photo: reference.

How Meta competes for the military industry

An investigation published on November 1 by the international press agency, Reuters revealed that Institutions linked to China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) used an early version of Meta’s AI model, Llama, to create a chatbot. intended for presumed military purposes .

According to the said report, they named it ChatBit .

When asked about this topic, Meta Public Policy Director Molly Montgomery said: Reuters that “Any use of our models by the EPL is unauthorized and contrary to our acceptable use policy” .

Likewise, a company spokesperson told the aforementioned agency that “in the global AI competition, The supposed role of a unique and outdated version of an American open source model has no relevance when we know that China is already investing more than a trillion dollars to surpass the United States in AI.

From the parent company of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads They say open source AI models – like Llama’s – “can help the United States take the lead” in this area and “strengthen global security.” as claimed an article published on November 4.

In this letter they also announced their intention to put Calls “available to U.S. government agencies and contractors working on national security applications” .

According to information collected by Bloomberg that too includes similar national security agencies of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand .

Likewise, according to the rescue Tutor Government contractors Meta opens Llama include: Amazon Web Services, Anduril, Booz Allen, Databricks, Deloitte, IBM, Leidos, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Oracle, Palantir, Scale AI and Snowflake .

The Ministry of Defense China did not respond to a request for comment. who sent Reutersnor any of the institutions or researchers mentioned in the report.

How OpenAI competes for the military industry

The firm responsible for models like ChatGPT and DALL-E changed the conditions of use of its AI models during this year .

Information collected by Forbes They assure that, at the beginning of 2024, the company eliminated certain clauses in its policies that prohibited the use of its products for “military and war” purposes .

At the same time, OpenAI opens up to defense work .

The company led by CEO Sam Altman partnered with Carahsoft, a US government information technology contractor .

According to the aforementioned media, Carahsoft added OpenAI to what is called a contract vehicle with the Department of Defense, called Hardware, software and business solutions (CHESS)

They explain that it is a method used by the U.S. government to purchase services from private companies in a faster, more agile manner .

This allows Carahsoft to provide the Pentagon with technologies from companies such as OpenAI, Microsoft and HP.

The official description of CHESS assures that “is the military’s primary designated source for commercial computing” .

“CHESS offers a flexible acquisition strategy and free through which an Army user can acquire off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware, software and IT services, through an e-commerce (IT e-mart) based process.

They also add: “It offers simple and direct contract vehicles through its Army e-commerce online ordering system (…) These contracts ensure continued competition among suppliers for best value and consolidation of requirements to maximize cost reduction and leverage the purchasing power of the Army.

OpenAI confirmed in May that it had joined the CHESS contract after starting to work with Carahsoft.

However, according to Forbes, So far, it has not executed a contract with the US Department of Defense. thanks to this mechanism.

How Microsoft competes for the military industry

In August 2024, Microsoft announced a partnership with Palantir Technologies Inc. the same public company that partnered with Anthropic and AWS.

According to a release released by the Redmond, Washington-based company, the goal of this alliance is “providing enhanced AI and analytics services to classified networks for critical national security operations” .

“This is a first-of-its-kind integrated set of technologies that will enable critical national security missions to implement Microsoft’s best-in-class Extended Language Models (LLMs) via the Azure OpenAI service within Palantir AI platforms, in Microsoft government and classified cloud environments.

Of course, they said at the time that “service availability is subject to authorization and accreditation by government agencies corresponding”.

Source: Latercera

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