
埃隆·馬斯克旗下的xAI簽下一位重要新客戶:美國政府。
這家成立僅兩年的人工智能公司——最近因旗下聊天機器人稱贊希特勒而登上新聞頭條——周一在一篇博客文章中表示,已成立名為“政務Grok”(Grok with Government)的新部門,并與美國國防部(Department of Defense)簽署了一份金額高達2億美元的合同。xAI還宣布,該公司已被列入美國總務管理局(GSA)采購清單,這意味著xAI的產品如今可供所有政府辦公室和機構采購。
美國國防部首席數字與人工智能辦公室(Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office)在新聞稿中表示,xAI新斬獲的美國國防部合同,是旨在開發跨“多種任務領域”人工智能代理工作流程的新計劃的一部分,但未透露更多細節。據該辦公室透露,谷歌(Google)、OpenAI和Anthropic也獲得了金額高達2億美元的合同,一同參與這項新計劃。過去一年,隨著硅谷對與美國國防部合作的禁忌逐漸消退,包括Meta、亞馬遜(Amazon)和谷歌在內的多家科技公司,要么已開始與美國政府合作,要么加大了合作力度。
xAI與美國國防部新建立的合作關系可能引發爭議,尤其是一周前該公司剛對Grok AI 模型完成更新,該模型便輸出種族主義言論,包括自稱“機械希特勒”(MechaHitler)。此外,xAI首席執行官馬斯克在過去六個月里一直試圖通過政府效率部(DOGE)削減政府“浪費性支出”。政府效率部聲稱截至7月已為美國納稅人節省1900億美元——很大程度上是通過削減其稱已過時或浪費的政府合同實現的(據報道,政府效率部未能為其中40%的削減措施提供文件或證據,對這些削減措施的調查和分析表明,相關數據被嚴重夸大)。如今,xAI卻在爭取讓美國政府增加更多可能耗資數億美元的合同。
另一個轉折是,在Grok的這一消息發布之際,馬斯克旗下多家公司現有的政府合同似乎陷入岌岌可危的境地。6月,馬斯克與特朗普在社交媒體上公開交鋒(起因是馬斯克批評特朗普的“大而美法案”),特朗普威脅要終止馬斯克旗下所有公司的政府合同。作為回應,馬斯克曾暗示將停用SpaceX的龍飛船——目前美國航空航天局(NASA)宇航員往返國際空間站與地球的主要工具。多年來,馬斯克的公司已與美國政府簽訂超過380億美元的合同。
xAI表示,該公司期望開始為聯邦、地方、州及國家安全領域的客戶提供服務,并針對這些客戶專門研發適用于國家安全或“關鍵科學”應用的定制化模型,這些模型將在“機密及其他受限環境”中使用,同時將由獲得美國政府(USG)認證的工程師提供專門工程支持。
盡管馬斯克已不再參與政府效率部的工作,但他在部分政府圈層中仍維系著人脈資源。他在特朗普政府中的盟友之一是凱蒂·米勒(Katie Miller,在特朗普第一任期內擔任副總統邁克·彭斯(Mike Pence)的新聞秘書)。米勒也是特朗普政策副幕僚長斯蒂芬·米勒(Stephen Miller)的妻子。自馬斯克離開政府效率部后,她已開始為xAI工作。周一,米勒在其社交媒體賬戶上宣傳xAI的新政府計劃,稱Grok是“美國政府唯一可用的、追求真相的人工智能”。
美國國防部的一名代表表示,該部門“期待與xAI等行業領軍企業合作”,并已向多家企業授予合同,“以擴大國防部在前沿人工智能技術應用與經驗方面的覆蓋范圍”。美國總務管理局表示,其正與多個機構的“多種”人工智能解決方案合作,并歡迎“所有遵守我方條款和條件的美國企業和模型加入”。
xAI未回應置評請求。(財富中文網)
譯者:中慧言-王芳
埃隆·馬斯克旗下的xAI簽下一位重要新客戶:美國政府。
這家成立僅兩年的人工智能公司——最近因旗下聊天機器人稱贊希特勒而登上新聞頭條——周一在一篇博客文章中表示,已成立名為“政務Grok”(Grok with Government)的新部門,并與美國國防部(Department of Defense)簽署了一份金額高達2億美元的合同。xAI還宣布,該公司已被列入美國總務管理局(GSA)采購清單,這意味著xAI的產品如今可供所有政府辦公室和機構采購。
美國國防部首席數字與人工智能辦公室(Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office)在新聞稿中表示,xAI新斬獲的美國國防部合同,是旨在開發跨“多種任務領域”人工智能代理工作流程的新計劃的一部分,但未透露更多細節。據該辦公室透露,谷歌(Google)、OpenAI和Anthropic也獲得了金額高達2億美元的合同,一同參與這項新計劃。過去一年,隨著硅谷對與美國國防部合作的禁忌逐漸消退,包括Meta、亞馬遜(Amazon)和谷歌在內的多家科技公司,要么已開始與美國政府合作,要么加大了合作力度。
xAI與美國國防部新建立的合作關系可能引發爭議,尤其是一周前該公司剛對Grok AI 模型完成更新,該模型便輸出種族主義言論,包括自稱“機械希特勒”(MechaHitler)。此外,xAI首席執行官馬斯克在過去六個月里一直試圖通過政府效率部(DOGE)削減政府“浪費性支出”。政府效率部聲稱截至7月已為美國納稅人節省1900億美元——很大程度上是通過削減其稱已過時或浪費的政府合同實現的(據報道,政府效率部未能為其中40%的削減措施提供文件或證據,對這些削減措施的調查和分析表明,相關數據被嚴重夸大)。如今,xAI卻在爭取讓美國政府增加更多可能耗資數億美元的合同。
另一個轉折是,在Grok的這一消息發布之際,馬斯克旗下多家公司現有的政府合同似乎陷入岌岌可危的境地。6月,馬斯克與特朗普在社交媒體上公開交鋒(起因是馬斯克批評特朗普的“大而美法案”),特朗普威脅要終止馬斯克旗下所有公司的政府合同。作為回應,馬斯克曾暗示將停用SpaceX的龍飛船——目前美國航空航天局(NASA)宇航員往返國際空間站與地球的主要工具。多年來,馬斯克的公司已與美國政府簽訂超過380億美元的合同。
xAI表示,該公司期望開始為聯邦、地方、州及國家安全領域的客戶提供服務,并針對這些客戶專門研發適用于國家安全或“關鍵科學”應用的定制化模型,這些模型將在“機密及其他受限環境”中使用,同時將由獲得美國政府(USG)認證的工程師提供專門工程支持。
盡管馬斯克已不再參與政府效率部的工作,但他在部分政府圈層中仍維系著人脈資源。他在特朗普政府中的盟友之一是凱蒂·米勒(Katie Miller,在特朗普第一任期內擔任副總統邁克·彭斯(Mike Pence)的新聞秘書)。米勒也是特朗普政策副幕僚長斯蒂芬·米勒(Stephen Miller)的妻子。自馬斯克離開政府效率部后,她已開始為xAI工作。周一,米勒在其社交媒體賬戶上宣傳xAI的新政府計劃,稱Grok是“美國政府唯一可用的、追求真相的人工智能”。
美國國防部的一名代表表示,該部門“期待與xAI等行業領軍企業合作”,并已向多家企業授予合同,“以擴大國防部在前沿人工智能技術應用與經驗方面的覆蓋范圍”。美國總務管理局表示,其正與多個機構的“多種”人工智能解決方案合作,并歡迎“所有遵守我方條款和條件的美國企業和模型加入”。
xAI未回應置評請求。(財富中文網)
譯者:中慧言-王芳
Elon Musk’s xAI has signed an important new customer: the U.S. government.
The two-year old AI company—most recently in the news when its chatbot praised Hitler—said in a blog post Monday that it has launched a new division, called “Grok with Government” and signed a contract worth up to $200 million with the Department of Defense. xAI also announced that it had been added to the General Services Administration schedule, meaning that xAI products will now be available for purchase across every government office and agency.
xAI’s new DoD contract is part of a new effort to develop AI agent workflows across a “variety of mission areas,” the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office said in a press release, without giving many more specifics. Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic were also awarded up to $200 million contracts as part of the new effort, according to the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office. A number of tech companies, including Meta, Amazon, and Google, have either started working with or upped their work with the U.S. government in the last year as the taboo in Silicon Valley of working with the Defense Department has fallen away.
xAI’s new ties with the Pentagon are likely to raise eyebrows, not least because just one week earlier, the company released an update to its Grok AI model that caused it to spew racist comments, including referring to itself as a “MechaHitler.” There’s also the fact that xAI’s CEO, Musk, has spent the last six months trying to trim “wasteful spending” in the government via the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE claims to have saved $190 billion in U.S. taxpayer dollars by July—in large part via cutting government contracts it said were outdated or wasteful (DOGE reportedly hasn’t provided documentation or evidence for 40% of those cuts, and investigations and analysis into the cuts have suggested that these figures have been greatly exaggerated.) Now, xAI is vying to get the U.S. government to add many more contracts that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Another twist is that the Grok announcement comes at a time when existing government contracts at Musk’s various companies appear to be on thin ice. In June, amid the very-public social media spat between Musk and Trump that began with Musk’s criticisms of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” Trump threatened to cut all of Musk’s government contracts across his various companies. Musk, in turn, had suggested he would decommission SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, currently the primary way for NASA to shuttle astronauts to the International Space Station and back to Earth. Musk’s companies have notched more than $38 billion in contracts with the U.S. government over the years.
xAI says that it wants to start servicing federal, local, state, and national security customers, and that, for these customers, it would start to build custom models for national security or “critical science” applications that would be available in “classified and other restricted environments” and that it would provide specific engineering support with USG-cleared engineers.
While Musk is no longer working with DOGE, he remains well-connected in some government circles. One of his allies within the Trump Administration was Katie Miller, who had served as Mike Pence’s press secretary when he was vice president during Trump’s first presidency. Miller is also the wife of Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, and she has since started working for xAI since Musk left DOGE. On Monday, Miller was promoting xAI’s new government plans on her social media account, saying that Grok was the “only truth-seeking AI available to the US Government.”
A representative for the Defense Department said that it was “excited to work” with industry leaders like xAI and others it had awarded contracts “to broaden DoD use of and experience in frontier AI capabilities.” GSA said it was working with “several” AI solutions across various agencies and that it welcomes “all American companies and models who abide by our terms and conditions.”
xAI did not respond to a request for comment.