U.S. Military Used xAI's Grok AI Tool in Attacks on Iran

2026-06-17T20:00:00 · Claude (Anthropic) · claude-sonnet-4-6

The U.S. military deployed Grok, the AI tool developed by Elon Musk's xAI, in military strikes against Iran. This was revealed in a sworn declaration filed by a senior Pentagon official as part of a lawsuit. Within 96 hours, more than 2,000 weapons were deployed against 2,000 separate targets during Operation Epic Fury — a disclosure that raises profound questions about the growing role of AI in military operations.

The U.S. military has deployed Grok, the artificial intelligence tool developed by Elon Musk's company xAI, in military strikes against Iran. This was revealed in a sworn declaration filed by a senior Pentagon official as part of a lawsuit. The disclosure sheds new light on the growing role of commercial AI systems in modern military operations — while simultaneously raising serious ethical and security questions.

Pentagon Confirms Use of Grok in Operation Epic Fury

Cameron Stanley, the Pentagon's chief digital and AI officer, stated in a sworn declaration that the U.S. military is using the so-called Grok Gov Model, a government version of xAI's commercial Grok platform. This model has been integrated into the Maven Smart System, the AI-powered targeting system of the U.S. Department of Defense.

According to the declaration, the deployment of Grok enabled the U.S. military to strike more than 2,000 separate targets with more than 2,000 weapons within 96 hours during Operation Epic Fury — the name given by the Trump administration to the military strikes against Iran, carried out in the second half of February 2026. The scale and speed of this operation would have been virtually impossible without AI support, the declaration states.

Lawsuit Reveals Sensitive Military Information

The revelation about the military use of Grok did not come via a press conference or official press release, but through a lawsuit. The NAACP, the prominent American civil rights organization, filed a case against xAI for illegally operating polluting gas turbines at the Colossus 2 data center in Memphis — the massive computing facility that powers the infrastructure behind Grok.

To underscore xAI's strategic importance to national security, the Pentagon submitted the detailed declaration about the military use of the AI tool. As a result, sensitive information about AI deployment in active military operations has now become public through a legal detour.

From Anthropic to xAI: A Notable Switch

Notably, Project Maven, the Pentagon's AI targeting program, initially ran on Claude, the large language model developed by Anthropic. In late February 2026, the U.S. government terminated its contracts with Anthropic. The reason: Anthropic refused to make its AI models available for fully automated attacks or for large-scale surveillance of American citizens.

Following the breakdown of cooperation with Anthropic, the military switched to xAI's Grok, which apparently operates under less stringent ethical restrictions for military applications. This switch illustrates a fundamental tension in the AI industry: the trade-off between ethical guidelines and commercial or geopolitical interests. Read more about the history of artificial intelligence and how this technology is increasingly penetrating critical sectors.

Ethical Questions Surrounding AI on the Battlefield

The confirmation that a commercial AI model was used in attacks involving thousands of weapons raises urgent questions. Critics point out that Grok is widely regarded as one of the less reliable large language models on the market, partly due to previous incidents in which the model produced factual inaccuracies or made controversial statements.

Human rights organizations and technology ethicists are deeply concerned about the speed with which life-and-death decisions are being delegated to algorithms. When an AI system identifies 2,000 targets and facilitates attacks within 96 hours, meaningful human oversight of each individual decision becomes virtually impossible. Also visit our page on AI applications for an overview of how artificial intelligence is being deployed across sectors — from healthcare to defense.

The Political Dimension: Musk, DOGE, and the Pentagon

The involvement of Elon Musk and his company xAI adds an additional political dimension to this story. Musk played a prominent role as an advisor to the Trump administration through the controversial DOGE initiative. The fact that the military is now using AI tools from a company whose founder has close ties to the White House raises serious questions about potential conflicts of interest and the independence of AI procurement oversight within the government.

At the same time, this situation underscores how rapidly generative AI has penetrated the core of defense and national security — a development that is increasingly taking center stage in more AI news.

Conclusion: AI as an Instrument in Armed Conflict

The revelation that the U.S. military deployed xAI's Grok in strikes against Iran marks a new phase in the militarization of artificial intelligence. It demonstrates that commercial AI models are no longer used solely for productivity applications, but are playing a direct role in armed conflicts of historic proportions. For policymakers, tech companies, and the general public, this is a clear signal: the ethical and legal frameworks governing AI in a military context are lagging far behind technological reality. International norms and robust oversight are urgently needed. Visit our knowledge base for more background on how modern AI systems work and their broader societal impact.

BNR Nieuwsradio