Pentagon says it used xAI’s Grok AI to target and strike over 2,000 targets in Iran war

The US Department of Justice is intervening in a lawsuit against Elon Musk's xAI, citing national security concerns. Pentagon AI chief Cameron Stanley testified that xAI's Grok AI is crucial for military operations, including targeting, and has been used to deploy thousands of munitions. He stated that halting xAI's operations could impair national security capabilities and put the US at a disadvantage against adversaries.

US used Musk’s Grok AI to deploy 2,000 munitions during war on Iran 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.  Read more: 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 Submitted by MEE staff on 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) Off 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.  Rights groups call for a halt of AI tech use in the military Read More » 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. War on Iran News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

The Department of Defense revealed it used Elon Musk’s Grok AI to fire 2,000 missiles at Iran.In a sworn statement in federal court, the DOD’s chief digital and artificial intelligence officer, Cameron Stanley, defended the chatbot’s existence as a “a matter of paramount national security,” saying that it was used to fire “2,000 munitions at 2,000 distinct targets within 96 hours” in the Iran war.Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI is being sued by the NAACP in Mississippi for allegedly running at least 57 gas-burning turbines to power its Colossus 2 data center without the necessary permits or pollution controls required by the Clean Air Act. Stanley issued his statement as part of the federal government’s effort to get the lawsuit tossed out on national security grounds.It’s the first time that the Trump administration has admitted to using Musk’s AI in the Iran war, following reports that the military may have used AI targeting in its bombing of a girls’ school in Minab, Iran, that killed at least 175 people. Last year, the DOD awarded xAI a $200 million federal contract to install “Grok for Government” into its systems, ignoring a laundry list of issues with the platform.Grok has often gone on antisemitic rants; it has pushed debunked claims of white genocide in South Africa, insulted X CEO Linda Yaccarino with sexual comments, and been used to generate explicit photos of women and children. Other government agencies even see the tool as a security risk. Why, then, is the DOD defending its existence and continued use for the military?

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence tool Grok was used in strikes against Iran, the United States government revealed in a legal briefing seen Tuesday by AFP. The June 15 brief defends the gas turbines used by a giant data center belonging to the trillionaire's company xAI, which are the target of an environmental lawsuit.Also read: Iran says the initial deal to end the war with US requires Israel to withdraw from LebanonIn the brief, the US Department of Justice argued that the lawsuit "threatens American national, economic, and energy security by seeking to shut off the power supply for artificial intelligence innovation that supports the Department of War's military operations." To support the argument, federal prosecutors presented testimony from Pentagon AI chief Cameron Stanley in which he states, under oath, that Grok is already in use within Project Maven, the US military's AI-assisted targeting program that was initially powered by Anthropic's Claude model.The project's Maven Smart Systems (MSS) "enabled US forces to deploy over 2,000 munitions to 2,000 distinct targets within 96 hours during Operation Epic Fury," Stanley's statement said.Stanley praised Musk's technology and "the greatly increased operational efficiency made possible by the Grok Gov Model."The NAACP, a civil rights organization defending Black Americans' rights, is suing xAI and accusing it of operating dozens of turbines without permits in violation of the Clean Air Act.The rights group says they pollute majority Black neighborhoods, but xAI says the turbines are temporary and mobile, and therefore not subject to regulation.Also read: Trump goes after Netanyahu as he pursues deal with Iran, putting their friendship to the testAt the end of February, the government terminated its contracts with Anthropic after it refused to allow its tools to be used for fully automated strikes or the mass surveillance of Americans.The Pentagon then turned to Anthropic's competitors, like Google, OpenAI and xAI, to continue its pursuit of AI.At Google, more than 600 employees demanded the company not provide AI to the military for classified operations. Others have raised broad concerns about AI's threats.The US military's transition to AI is taking time, and in March the government had to acknowledge that Claude was still being used for the war in Iran.A close ally of President Donald Trump, Musk folded xAI into his space exploration company SpaceX in February, which carried out the largest IPO in history on June 12.