Government AI Models Advancing, Increasing Productivity

Sept. 30, 2026 | By David Vergun, Pentagon News |

The War Department is working with industry partners to deploy the latest and greatest American artificial intelligence models and platforms, officials said today during GenAI.mil Excite Day at the Pentagon. 

Some 1.7 million users are currently using artificial intelligence within the department, said Deya Banisakher, acting director for Frontier AI at the Chief Digital Artificial Intelligence Office and program manager for GenAI.mil.

Banisakher and others spoke today during GenAI.mil Excite Day at the Pentagon. 

Some 1.7 million users are currently using artificial intelligence within the department, Banisakher said. Everyone with a common access card can access Google's Gemini, Starshield AI's Grok for Government and OpenAI's ChatGPT Mil. 

"We've recently gotten closer and closer to parity with commercial models and platforms, where we started releasing models on the same day as public releases," Banisakher said. 

The models are increasing productivity throughout the department.  

"People are able to research, summarize and extract information from droves of data that they previously couldn't do," he said, adding that AI is saving billions of man-hours. 

Warfighters can code applications on the fly. It's aiding graphic designers, operations research, acquisition and finance professionals, as well as warfighters across the services, he said. 

For example, within the Navy, Banisakher said a project would take developers two to three years to code manually, costing upward of $10 million. However, three Navy developers recently used GenAI.mil to modernize that coding in 30 days. 

The goal is to accelerate AI adoption throughout the department by putting the right tools and platforms in warfighters' hands and plugging into their workflows at all classification levels. 

The next step will be putting AI on the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network and on the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System. 

Jonathan Buchanan, the authorizing official for the GenAI.mil platforms, said the three AI platforms soft-launched to ensure they could be scaled for the department and be monitored for security and performance.  

"I think we're just scratching the surface with what is totally possible with these platforms. I feel like we are headed in a very good trajectory with how these platforms directly affect the warfighter and the capabilities that will bring to bear in the future," he said. 

Gerard Connolly, a Starshield AI Grok for Government technician, said that as large language model databases improve over time, AI will become even more useful and powerful. 

Grok focuses on four things, Connolly said. It can create teams and share work. Automations in Grok have been trained to do certain tasks and provide timely updates. Grok's projects mode lets teams upload files, collaborate within a workspace and train others on those files. The AI platform's skills mode rapidly generates recurring administrative documents like executive summaries and battlefield updates. 

More than 300,000 people in the department have been using Grok since it launched last month, and Connolly said he expects that number to rise. 

ChatGPT Mil launched concurrently and is seeing similar numbers. 

"We are excited because that tells us that the users are not only sort of onboarding but are staying, and they're finding value in the product that we have," said Jonathan Bal, lead for the War Department portfolio at OpenAI. 

Bal added that as AI is integrated into workflows, the hope is that it accelerates warfighter productivity. 

Gemini for Government, which launched in December 2025, was the first AI platform deployed throughout the department. Joshua Marcuse, director of defense strategy at Google Public Sector, said the workforce uses it for tasks such as coding, designing chips, recruiting, hiring, promotions, retention, finance, cybersecurity and detecting insider threats. 

Marcuse said national security is a passion for people at Google Public Sector, adding, "We're so proud to serve this mission." 

Robotics Competition Winners Advance Military Exploration of Humanoid Capabilities

 Sept. 29, 2026 | By Eleanor Kent, Army FUZE |

The Army named five companies as winners of its xTechHumanoid competition Sept. 11, capping an effort to assess how emerging commercial humanoid technologies could contribute to future military operations.

As the Army looks to robotics and autonomy to reduce soldier exposure to dangerous and physically demanding tasks, preserve combat power and give commanders more options, humanoid systems represent a growing area of exploration. That work extends across the joint force through the Humanoid Community of Collaboration, which was established in December 2023 to advance the technical development and operational integration of humanoid capabilities. 
 
The competition was a partnership between HCoC and the Army FUZE xTech program, which scouts and accelerates dual-use technologies that directly enhance soldier readiness and mission success. 
 
They launched xTechHumanoid to identify promising commercial approaches and establish a technical baseline for an emerging capability area. The competition offered Army and joint force stakeholders a direct look at the maturity of technologies in development across the commercial humanoid robotics market. 
 
"Humanoid robots are part of a broader autonomy push to increase the depth and breadth of robotic platforms, and [the] components industry can provide for a range of missions," said Alex Miller, the Army's chief technology officer. "We are identifying the problems, mission needs and opportunities to enable our formations with the right mix of tools. xTech is our method of surveying the industry landscape and fast-tracking promising technology rather than falling victim to yearslong studies." 
 
The competition drew 103 white paper submissions spanning baseline humanoid forms and advanced subsystem technologies. The top 10 companies advanced as finalists, with nine ultimately demonstrating their technologies for military leaders, technical experts and evaluators at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, Sept. 9-10.
 
Following the demonstrations, the Army selected five xTechHumanoid winners: 

• ACES Group — an integrated power system designed to address energy needs across humanoid robotic systems with scalable energy storage technologies for applications ranging from larger operational infrastructure to individual robot batteries.  
• IHMC Robotics — "Alex," a humanoid robot featuring impact-resilient actuators, ballistic protection and hybrid autonomy combining artificial intelligence and human control for complex and dangerous missions. 
• Hydroplane Limited — a lightweight, compact mobile power-generation system designed to provide long-duration power in contested logistics environments.
• Ras Labs — highly sensitive fingertip tactile sensors designed to enable robotic systems to detect force, object form, slip and other physical interactions. 
• Velocity Explorations — software that builds on the company's command-and-control technology to translate trusted information and command intent into discrete actions for humanoid robotic systems. 

For participating companies, xTechHumanoid created a direct connection between commercial technology development and operational demand, providing opportunities to challenge their solutions, sharpen their understanding of mission needs and better identify where their capabilities could deliver military value.  
 
"The xTech competition is really an interesting and unique one because it allows you to pressure test your technology in a field exercise paradigm," said Alec Leesberg, Velocity Explorations president and cofounder. 
 
Anita Sengupta, founder and CEO of Hydroplane Limited, said competing makes companies better and connects them to a network of people across the military and the industry. 
 
With the competition complete, xTechHumanoid provides the Army and joint force a clearer picture of both the progress commercial industry has made in humanoid robotics and the technical challenges that remain, helping inform where continued development and experimentation can deliver the greatest value to the warfighter. The Humanoid Community of Collaboration is already building on those insights through its next lines of effort, including work to address power and energy constraints that could shape the operational employment of humanoid and other robotic systems.

Department of War Launches the 'Golden Dome for America Hub' To Accelerate Industry Engagement, Revolutionize Homeland Missile Defense Partnerships

Aug. 11, 2026 |

The New Digital Portal Slashes Bureaucratic Red Tape, Connecting Commercial Innovators, Venture Capital, and Nontraditional Startups Directly with the Office of Golden Dome for America

At the annual Space and Missile Defense Symposium today, Gen. Mike Guetlein, Director of Golden Dome for America, announced the official launch of the "Golden Dome for America Ecosystem Hub" (the Hub), a groundbreaking digital platform designed to streamline collaboration between the Department of War (DoW) and the commercial technology sector.

Accessible immediately at hub.goldendome.mil, the Hub represents a fundamental shift in how the United States builds its next-generation, multi-layered homeland missile defense shield. By removing legacy organizational barriers, the Hub serves as a unified entry point for traditional defense contractors, commercial tech companies, venture capitalists, academic institutions, research laboratories, and nontraditional entrepreneurs to deliver innovative capabilities at the speed of the market.

"To defeat a new generation of sophisticated, maneuvering aerial threats, we must build a defensive shield that adapts faster than the adversary," said Guetlein. "We are doing this by cutting bureaucratic red-tape, harnessing innovation through partnerships, and leveraging the true power of the Arsenal of Freedom. We are dismantling the historical walls separating commercial innovation from national defense and short-circuiting the 'Valley of Death' that so often stalls the deployment of critical technologies."

Guetlein emphasized this paradigm shift is built upon strict fiscal accountability. "While we are committed to making the necessary investments to defend and protect the nation, we are equally committed to being responsible with every dollar of the $185 billion we need to deliver Golden Dome. To do that, we are leveraging commercial-off-the-shelf technologies and fostering a competitive environment to drive down costs."

He explained this approach helps to ensure that Golden Dome for America is not only the most effective, but also the most affordable, defense system for the nation.

"Defense of the Homeland is a national imperative, and as a result requires a close partnership between industry and the government to leverage innovation to the maximum extent possible," Guetlein added.

A Unified Platform to Mobilize the Free Market

The newly established Hub is the collaborative tissue that connects authorized experts, like program managers, directly with commercial providers, venture capitalists, and academic researchers. Key capabilities and features of the Hub include:

• Direct Engagement and Rapid Submissions: Traditional and nontraditional innovators can easily register, upload concepts, and submit designs directly to program decision-makers, bypassing months of administrative delays.
• Transparent Demand Signals: The Hub provides real-time, unclassified visibility into the immediate capability gaps of the Golden Dome program, allowing the private sector to align investment and R&D with active mission requirements.

Strengthening the Supply Chain and Industrial Base

In coordination with the DoW, the Hub will help to facilitate strategic supply chain security and industrial base revitalization. Through the Hub, qualified suppliers can connect with innovative capital tools.

This diversified strategy actively encourages multi-vendor participation, mitigates sub-tier supply chain vulnerabilities, prevents vendor lock-in, and establishes a highly resilient foundation for rapid production scaling.

The Hub was developed with industry partners to leverage an innovation mindset and partnering on best practices to deliver this mission-critical platform.

"Our mission is to establish an unassailable, highly resilient industrial base built on transparency and collaborative problem-solving," Guetlein added. "By bringing private capital, commercial agility, and national defense objectives into a single, accessible environment, the Hub ensures that our defensive network remains affordable, scalable, and secure against the very real threats of today and tomorrow."

Immediate Action Required for Industry Partners

The Golden Dome for America Hub is now live. The DoW strongly encourages all interested defense contractors, commercial tech firms, research laboratories, and nontraditional entrepreneurs to register their organizations and submit initial capability overviews at: hub.goldendome.mil