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US used Musk’s Grok AI to deploy 2,000 munitions during Iran war
US used Musk’s Grok AI to deploy 2,000 munitions during Iran war
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MEE staff
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Wed, 06/17/2026 - 21:33
A Trump administration official reveals in written testimony the US used the trillionaire's AI during the Iran war to strike 2,000 targets
Photograph shows screens displaying the logo of Grok, a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by xAI, an American company specialising in artificial intelligence, and its founder, South African businessman Elon Musk, on 13 January 2025 in Toulouse, France (Lionel Bonaventure/AFP)
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US forces employed Elon Musk’s Grok AI to strike over 2,000 targets in 96 hours during the joint US-Israel war on Iran, according to a written declaration from the US Department of Defense’s digital and artificial intelligence chief, Cameron Stanley.
The details of the department’s use of AI were revealed in the submission to the United States District Court, Northern District of Mississippi, where Musk’s xAI is facing a lawsuit from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP), which contends the company is illegally running natural gas turbines.
Grok was developed by xAI.
Stanley’s declaration supported the Trump administration’s intervention in the civil case, which is helping Musk’s company fight it.
Stanley said that the government uses the Grok Gov Model, which relies on “derivatives” of xAI’s commercial offerings, and it is deployed within the Maven Smart Systems (MSS) to “support vital national security missions, including targeting, intelligence, readiness, and recruitment”.
In the declaration, Stanley said that “MSS workflows” enabled US forces to deploy 2,000 munitions in just 96 hours during Operation Epic Fury.
The testimony does not provide specific dates of when the technology was deployed and whether it coincides with 28 February, the first day of the war, when the US struck a school killing 156 civilians, including 120 school children.
Stanley has been the Pentagon’s CDAO since 7 January 2026, and writes that it is his responsibility to lead the “acceleration of DoW’s (Department of War) adoption of data, analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to generate decision advantage for the Warfighter”. He previously served as lead for Amazon’s web services as well as held other posts within the defence department.
Stanley characterised the use of GrokAI as “a testament to the greatly increased operational efficiency made possible by the Grok Gov Model”.
Nearly 3,500 people have been killed by US-Israeli attacks on Iran since 28 February, according to Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans.
Stanley’s sworn testimony marks the first time the Trump administration has directly admitted to using Musk’s AI during the Iran war.
'Keep pace with adversaries'
On 26 April 2026, the NAACP sued xAI and its subsidiary, MZX Tech, for unlawfully operating 27 methane gas turbines in Southaven, Mississippi, to power its Colossus 2 data centre in South Memphis, Tennessee.
Methane gas turbines are known to produce toxic pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, critical to ozone pollution. They can induce asthma attacks, chest pain, and, over a long duration of exposure, decrease lung function and cause premature death.
The NAACP’s lawsuit demands the court rule that xAI violated the Clean Air Act and order it to stop operating unpermitted turbines at its Southaven facility.
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It also seeks to order xAI to install the best available control technology at the power plant and to assess financial penalties against xAI for each day it violated federal law.
In a press release on the lawsuit, they stressed that Black communities in the Gulf South are forced to bear the toxic brunt of "innovation".
xAI utilises the Colossus 2 supercomputer to train and upgrade Grok models, including the Grok Gov Model, which the Pentagon uses to support targeting, intelligence, readiness, and recruitment.
In his court submission, Stanley asserted that if Colossus 2 is shut down because it cannot depend on power from the Stanton Road site in Southaven, the Pentagon’s ability to meet its national security mission and “keep pace with adversaries” would be impaired.
In the event of an armed conflict or other exigent circumstances, Stanley said, “there is a significant likelihood of an immediate and substantial escalation in AI interference demands for Grok Gov Models”.
Colossus 2 is considered well-positioned to provide critical surge capacity needed to sustain security operations in crisis.
Stanley frames the US fielding its data facilities as equally foundational to its defence posture as munitions production. “In the modern theater of operations, data center interference capacity must be recognized not merely as commercial infrastructure, but as a long-term strategic tool vital to maintaining our technological advantage against adversaries.”
The US Department of Justice has urged the judge in Mississippi to dismiss the NAACP’s suit, citing national security. “The Department of Justice will not sit idly by while private organizations use environmental laws to undermine our national security,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Environment and Natural Resources Division.
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