Government Agencies Raise Alarm About Use of Musk’s Grok Chatbot in Highly Sensitive Government Systems

The Pentagon is transitioning from the AI chatbot Claude to Grok, a system developed by Elon Musk’s company xAI. The move comes as the Trump administration looks for alternatives to Claude, which had been used across several Department of Defense operations.

Grok has already been introduced into select areas of the Pentagon and other federal agencies. Musk’s familiarity with federal systems — after spending significant time navigating government operations in 2025 — has made Grok an appealing option to some officials.

However, Grok has faced criticism over its performance and reliability.  It has a questionable track record on AI benchmark tests, demonstrating poor performance in various assessments. Moreover, the system has achieved notoriety for its erratic and at times disgusting behavior, generating millions of explicit deepfake images involving women and minors.

Federal officials have expressed doubts about Grok’s safety and effectiveness. One major concern is vulnerability to “data poisoning,” a risk in which corrupted or malicious data can compromise an AI system’s outputs — a serious issue for an agency responsible for national security.

The concerns extend to senior leadership. Ed Forst, head of the General Services Administration, which oversees federal procurement, has reportedly raised questions about Grok’s reliability. Some officials have described the system as overly agreeable and potentially susceptible to manipulation.

Before the shift, many military officials reportedly preferred Claude, viewing it as more capable in key operational areas. Gregory Allen, a senior AI adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said he does not believe Grok and Claude are currently comparable in performance across the capabilities that matter most to the Department of Defense.

The transition also comes amid broader tensions between the administration and major AI companies. Leaders at Anthropic and other firms have emphasized ethical guardrails that could limit certain military applications of their systems.

If the administration cannot secure cooperation from other major providers, the Pentagon may increasingly rely on Grok — despite ongoing concerns from some inside the government.