# Who supplies the AI-first military?

> Which companies are becoming the AI suppliers to Western militaries, and on what terms?

Between 2025 and 2026 the Pentagon and NATO moved from pilots to enterprise-scale deals with Palantir, Google, OpenAI and xAI, while the Anthropic dispute showed the price of setting usage limits. This line traces the vendor map and the contract terms that came with it.

## Stops
1. **14 Apr 2025: NATO buys Palantir's Maven Smart System for its operational headquarters** (Development) NATO's operational HQ buys a commercial AI targeting and decision-support system in six months. [page](https://wheresthe.ai/d/intl-nato-palantir-maven-smart-system-2025-04/) · [source](https://shape.nato.int/news-releases/nato-acquires-aienabled-warfighting-system-)
2. **14 Jul 2025: Pentagon AI office awards Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI up to $200m each** (Development) Four frontier labs get up to $200m each for agentic military workflows. [page](https://wheresthe.ai/d/us-cdao-frontier-ai-awards-2025-07/) · [source](https://www.ai.mil/Latest/News-Press/PR-View/Article/4242822/cdao-announces-partnerships-with-frontier-ai-companies-to-address-national-secu/)
3. **31 Jul 2025: US Army folds 75 Palantir contracts into one deal worth up to $10bn** (Development) The Army consolidates 75 Palantir contracts into a $10bn, ten-year vehicle. [page](https://wheresthe.ai/d/us-army-palantir-enterprise-agreement-2025-07/) · [source](https://www.army.mil/article/287506/army_awards_enterprise_agreement_to_palantir)
4. **9 Dec 2025: Department of War launches GenAI.mil with Google's Gemini for Government** (Development) Gemini becomes the first model on a platform for 3 million personnel. [page](https://wheresthe.ai/d/us-dow-genai-mil-launch-2025-12/) · [source](https://www.googlecloudpresscorner.com/2025-12-09-Chief-Digital-and-Artificial-Intelligence-Office-Selects-Google-Clouds-AI-to-Power-GenAI-mil)
5. **12 Jan 2026: Hegseth orders an 'AI-first' military and 'any lawful use' terms for AI contracts** (Development) 'Any lawful use' and 30-day model parity become procurement criteria. [page](https://wheresthe.ai/d/us-dow-ai-acceleration-strategy-2026-01/) · [source](https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4376420/war-department-launches-ai-acceleration-strategy-to-secure-american-military-ai/)
6. **27 Feb 2026: Pentagon labels Anthropic a supply-chain risk after it refuses to drop two limits** (Development) Refusing those terms gets a lab cut off from the defence market. [page](https://wheresthe.ai/d/us-dow-anthropic-supply-chain-risk-2026-02/) · [source](https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/27/pentagon-moves-to-designate-anthropic-as-a-supply-chain-risk/)
7. **28 Feb 2026: OpenAI agrees to deploy its models on Department of War classified networks** (Development) OpenAI wins classified work by enforcing limits through architecture and contract. [page](https://wheresthe.ai/d/us-openai-dow-classified-agreement-2026-02/) · [source](https://openai.com/index/our-agreement-with-the-department-of-war/)
8. **25 Sep 2026: Appeals court upholds Pentagon's supply-chain-risk label on Anthropic** (Development) An appeals court lets the military's designation stand. [page](https://wheresthe.ai/d/us-dc-circuit-anthropic-designation-ruling-2026-09/) · [source](https://www.nextgov.com/acquisition/2026/09/anthropic-lawsuit-supply-chain-risk/416255/)
9. **30 Sep 2026: Hegseth launches Project Meridian with Musk, Luckey and Gingrich to plan future war** (Development) The heads of SpaceX and Anduril now help set long-range requirements. [page](https://wheresthe.ai/d/us-dow-project-meridian-2026-09/) · [source](https://media.defense.gov/2026/Sep/30/2004009287/-1/-1/1/COMMISSIONING-OF-PROJECT-MERIDIAN.PDF)

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