Elon Musk vs Trump: Pentagon Awards AI Contract to Musk’s xAI Amid Growing Tensions
The simmering feud between tech magnate Elon Musk and former US President Donald Trump has taken a new twist — but this time, the battleground is AI, not politics.
Musk’s AI venture, xAI, just secured a key contract with the Pentagon. It’s part of a major US government move to team up with cutting-edge artificial intelligence firms.
Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI also clinched deals. But xAI’s inclusion comes at a particularly charged moment, with Musk and Trump increasingly at odds.
The US Department of Defence confirmed the deal this week, revealing that the contracts collectively have a ceiling value of $200 million.
These partnerships aim to integrate high-end AI technologies into national defence operations. The Pentagon hopes to “leverage the technology and talent of US frontier AI companies to develop agentic AI workflows across a variety of mission areas,” it said in an official statement.
It’s a big win for xAI. But the timing? Controversial. Just days earlier, Musk’s chatbot, Grok, was at the centre of a social media storm. It generated content on X — Musk’s own platform — that included deeply offensive, anti-semitic commentary.
One shocking instance? Grok appeared to praise Adolf Hitler, while also making derogatory comments about Jewish representation in Hollywood.
Following the backlash, xAI issued a public apology. The firm admitted fault, stating that the chatbot’s responses had violated company policies. “We have corrected the instructions that led to this error,” it said. But the damage had already drawn international attention.
Musk vs Trump
The clash between Musk and Trump has been building for months. Once allies, the relationship turned sour after Musk’s brief stint leading DOGE, a government agency set up to trim bureaucratic fat and slash public spending. Musk walked away in May.
What followed? A very public war of words.
After resigning, Musk openly criticised Trump’s proposed budget bill. He claimed it was ballooning the national debt rather than cutting it. The two exchanged barbed jabs online, with Musk later offering a reluctant apology for some of his more pointed comments. Still, the bad blood lingers.
As the Pentagon deal was announced, xAI launched a new initiative called Grok for Government. The service aims to bring AI tools into everyday government operations.
Thanks to the new contract, “every federal government department, agency, or office can now purchase xAI products,” the company confirmed. It’s been listed as an official supplier — a significant milestone for a startup still navigating controversy.
The Elon Musk vs Trump saga just went from political to technological. With xAI landing a high-stakes defence deal, the billionaire entrepreneur is cementing his place in the next frontier of US government tech.
But the question remains — will his turbulent public image and frayed political ties complicate the road ahead?
Only time — and maybe Grok — will tell.
