What the sworn declaration says
Cameron Stanley, the official overseeing digital and AI functions at the Pentagon, filed a sworn declaration supporting the military's use of xAI during litigation. In it, he said the Grok Gov Model enabled U.S. forces to move more than 2,000 munitions against 2,000 distinct targets over 96 hours in Operation Epic Fury, calling the tempo "a testament to the greatly increased operational efficiency made possible by the Grok Gov Model."
Stanley also wrote that xAI's Grok ranks among just four proprietary AI systems "capable of supporting national security applications," and that xAI "remains one of just three enterprise providers equipped to sustain mission-critical operations across Secret and Top-Secret classified networks for the foreseeable future due to the enormous resources required for initial certification."
According to the filing, the Department of War currently uses derivatives of xAI's commercial stack under the Grok Gov Model. It has been fielded in Maven Smart Systems to support "vital national security missions, including targeting, intelligence, readiness, and recruitment," and helps with a range of other military tasks. Stanley said "The Grok Gov Model offers features unique to xAI that are found in no other frontier Al model."
The Independent reported that the filing appears to be the first time a Trump Administration official has confirmed Musk's AI is being used in connection with U.S. weapons employed against Iran. The revelation surfaced this week as an initial deal meant to wind down the U.S. war with Iran comes together.
The conflict and casualty questions
After hostilities kicked off in February, the Trump administration came under scrutiny over civilian harm from U.S. strikes and over how AI factored into those missions. In an analysis for the Lieber Institute at West Point, Jessica Dorsey and Luke Moffett wrote that while AI is often cast as boosting precision and efficiency, they referenced estimates that civilian deaths had reached 1,700 by May 2026 - a figure they said "calls that narrative into serious question."
They also noted "CENTCOM claimed it was generating 1,000 targets per hour," adding that tools sold as enhancing accuracy can also create distance between decision makers and the human consequences of their choices.
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The U.S. Department of Justice warned that an upcoming court decision could materially constrain the Pentagon's AI posture if it limits deployment of xAI across defense systems.
The legal fight over xAI's data center
The administration asked a federal judge in Mississippi to dismiss an NAACP lawsuit that alleges xAI's Colossus 2 data center depends on several dozen gas turbines and is violating the Clean Air Act. The complaint says those turbines are currently running without permits and that xAI's facilities are causing unlawful pollution in Black neighborhoods.
In his filing, Stanley called xAI a "long-term strategic tool vital to maintaining our technological advantage against adversaries."
Political pushback and proposed rules
Some in Congress want stricter limits to ensure humans, not software, make consequential military calls. "The most critical decisions affecting our national security and the lives of our service members must always be made by human beings, not unaccountable machines," U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D, NY) wrote earlier in June.
Gillibrand introduced a bill to keep decisions that could affect human life in human hands, and would prohibit AI from controlling nuclear weapons, autonomous weapons functions, and activities related to domestic surveillance. In a separate statement this month, she argued the Pentagon "is moving toward deploying incredibly powerful AI technology without commonsense guardrails in place, which could have catastrophic consequences that make all of us less safe." Her bottom line: "We must act now - not to stifle technological progress, but to establish clear rules of the road that keep humans in charge and keep AI's use in warfare smart and safe."
What this means for your portfolio
Two forces now tug on the same thread. On one side, the Pentagon says Grok is embedded in mission systems and classed networks. On the other, the NAACP's lawsuit targets the Colossus 2 facility for alleged permit and Clean Air Act violations tied to several dozen gas turbines, and the Justice Department says a court ruling could reshape how widely xAI can be deployed. That mix of regulatory risk, policy pressure, and front line use means timelines for contracts, valuations for suppliers, and reputational exposure for partners are all in play.
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