A top defense official revealed that the Trump administration used Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot to launch thousands of missiles at Iran.
In a sworn statement defending the trillionaire from a lawsuit alleging xAI data centers are illegally polluting Black communities, the Pentagon’s artificial intelligence chief said the chatbot’s continued operation is “a matter of paramount national security” — and was used to fire more than “2,000 munitions at 2,000 distinct targets within 96 hours.”
Cameron Stanley, the Pentagon’s chief digital and artificial intelligence officer had mentioned that Grok, a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by xAI, is among four AI models “currently capable of supporting national security applications.” The chatbot is also one of three products “equipped to support mission-critical operations” in top secret settings, Stanley wrote.
READ: Musk defends Grok as ‘Space(XAI)’ eyes massive IPO (May 26, 2026)
This is the first time an administration official is admitting that AI is being used to bomb Iran.
The use of AI systems in bombing operations have come under scrutiny after U.S.-led attacks led to the death of hundreds of civilians, including children. U.S. military investigators believe American forces were likely responsible for a strike on an Iranian girl’s school in Minab that killed at least 175 people, mostly children.
Analysts believe that the Pentagon’s AI-driven targeting, along with human failure to check if target maps were up to date, played a role in the bombing.
In court filings on Monday, the Pentagon said it relies on xAI’s Grok Gov Model, a suite of products designed to work with federal agencies with features “found in no other frontier AI model,” according to Stanley.
The Department of Justice said the Pentagon would be “severely” impacted by a court ruling that prevents xAI from being “deployed, refined and upgraded” across the Pentagon.
Some Democrats in Congress are seeking to restrict the military’s use of AI after top officials declined to investigate civilian deaths that may have been prevented by stricter controls on AI.
READ: xAI raises $20 billion in Series E round as Grok controversy intensifies (January 7, 2026)
A bill from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand would ensure that human commanders would remain in control of making life-and-death decisions, and entirely ban AI when it comes to nuclear weapons, domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons systems.
“The most critical decisions affecting our national security and the lives of our service members must always be made by human beings, not unaccountable machines,” she said in a statement earlier this month.
“Right now, the Pentagon is moving toward deploying incredibly powerful AI technology without commonsense guardrails in place, which could have catastrophic consequences that make all of us less safe,” she added. “We must act now – not to stifle technological progress, but to establish clear rules of the road that keep humans in charge and keep AI’s use in warfare smart and safe.”