OpenAI Strikes AI Contract With Pentagon After Anthropic Dispute

OpenAI has reached a new agreement with the U.S. Defense Department to provide artificial intelligence technology, a move that comes amid a federal clash involving rival AI company Anthropic and its work with government agencies and military contractors.

The deal links OpenAI directly with the Pentagon, according to multiple published reports, and arrives in the wake of an order by President Donald Trump directing federal agencies to end contracts involving Anthropic. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also declared Anthropic a “supply chain risk,” CBS News reported, and issued restrictions affecting military contractors’ ability to do business with the company.

OpenAI’s agreement was reported by The New York Times, with additional coverage from Fortune, NPR, WRAL, The Next Web and The Jerusalem Post. Those reports described the OpenAI arrangement as a Defense Department agreement announced shortly after the administration’s actions related to Anthropic.

The development matters because it signals how quickly the federal government can shift course in the fast-moving AI sector, and how central AI vendors have become to national defense procurement. Defense and intelligence agencies are increasingly relying on advanced software tools for planning, analysis and other functions, while simultaneously tightening rules around vendor access, security requirements and supply-chain concerns.

It also underscores the competitive stakes among the leading AI companies as federal agencies weigh which systems they will use and under what constraints. A Defense Department agreement can shape future buying decisions across the military services and the broader federal ecosystem, particularly when one major vendor is being restricted and another is moving into a new role.

The public reporting points to an environment in which executive action and Pentagon guidance can have immediate effects on technology contracting. Restrictions on Anthropic, as described in the coverage, place pressure on contractors and agencies to reassess tools already in use, adjust project plans and ensure compliance with updated directives.

What happens next will depend on how the Defense Department and other agencies implement the administration’s order related to Anthropic and how contractors respond to the Pentagon’s restrictions. Agencies and vendors may also face questions about continuity of existing programs, timing for transitions, and how requirements will be enforced across different contracts and workstreams.

At the same time, OpenAI’s new arrangement with the Pentagon is likely to draw close attention from lawmakers, oversight officials and competing technology providers as the government deepens its reliance on commercially developed AI systems.

The agreement marks a consequential moment in Washington’s AI contracting landscape, with the Pentagon’s vendor choices now colliding directly with heightened supply-chain scrutiny and fast-changing federal policy.