US Government Confirms Elon Musk’s Grok AI Used in Military Strikes Against Iran

In a striking revelation, the United States government has confirmed that Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence tool, Grok, was employed in recent military strikes against Iran. The disclosure came in a legal briefing obtained by AFP on Tuesday, June 15, and marks the first official acknowledgment of xAI’s technology being used in active combat operations.

The 15-page brief was filed in response to an environmental lawsuit targeting xAI, the trillionaire’s artificial intelligence company. The suit, brought by the NAACP, alleges that xAI operates dozens of gas turbines without proper permits at a massive data center in Memphis, Tennessee, violating the Clean Air Act and disproportionately polluting nearby predominantly Black neighborhoods.

In its defense, the Department of Justice argued that shutting down the facility would have dire consequences far beyond local environmental concerns. “The requested relief 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,” the DOJ stated.

To bolster this argument, federal prosecutors submitted sworn testimony from Cameron Stanley, the Pentagon’s chief AI officer. Stanley confirmed under oath that Grok is now integrated into Project Maven, the US military’s flagship AI-assisted targeting program. Project Maven was originally powered by Anthropic’s Claude model, but the Pentagon transitioned to xAI after Anthropic refused to permit its technology for fully automated strikes or mass surveillance of US citizens.

Stanley’s testimony offered a vivid illustration of Grok’s impact. During Operation Epic Fury a major offensive campaign against Iranian targets the Maven Smart Systems (MSS), powered by the specially adapted Grok Gov Model, enabled US forces to “deploy over 2,000 munitions to 2,000 distinct targets within 96 hours.” He praised the system for delivering “greatly increased operational efficiency,” reducing target identification time from hours to minutes, and minimizing collateral damage through improved precision.

The revelation has reignited a fierce ethical and legal debate over the role of private-sector AI in warfare. Critics argue that entrusting lethal decision-making to algorithms—even with human oversight raises profound questions about accountability, bias, and the risk of escalation. Others warn of a dangerous arms race, as adversaries rush to develop or acquire similar capabilities.

The NAACP, in a counter-statement, condemned the government’s national-security argument as a “smokescreen.” “The Pentagon is prioritizing AI development over the health and lives of American citizens,” said Derrick Johnson, the organization’s president. “No military application justifies poisoning Black communities in Memphis.”

xAI has maintained that the turbines are temporary and mobile, and therefore exempt from standard permitting requirements a claim the NAACP disputes, pointing to their continuous operation for over 18 months.

This is not the first time the military’s embrace of commercial AI has sparked internal resistance. At the end of February, the Pentagon terminated its contract with Anthropic after the company refused to allow its tools to be used for fully autonomous strikes or mass surveillance. The government subsequently turned to other providers, including Google, OpenAI, and xAI.

At Google, more than 600 employees signed a petition demanding that the company refrain from providing AI for classified military operations a reflection of broader unease within the tech industry. OpenAI has also faced internal dissent, though it has publicly defended its partnerships with the Department of Defense, citing strict human-in-the-loop protocols.

Despite the transition, the military’s shift away from Anthropic has been gradual. In March, government officials conceded that Claude was still being used in the Iran theater due to integration delays—a point that opponents of the Grok deployment have seized upon to question the urgency of the switch.

The controversy comes at a moment of extraordinary consolidation for Musk’s business empire. In February, Musk folded xAI into his space exploration company, SpaceX, creating a unified aerospace-AI conglomerate. On June 12, the combined entity executed the largest initial public offering in history, raising over $40 billion and cementing Musk’s status as the world’s wealthiest individual and now, one of its most influential defense contractors.

As the legal battle over the Memphis data center continues, the broader question looms: how far should the private sector go in enabling the instruments of war and who bears the cost when those instruments are powered by turbines that poison the very communities they claim to protect?

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