Once upon a time, Azure cloud became truly large only after creating a dedicated version for the Pentagon. Then Starlink satellites received a military communication channel — and the company managed to turn a profit even without Mars involvement. Palantir developed thanks to banking projects, but the real breakthrough happened only after its first contracts with intelligence agencies.
Now, OpenAI is opening the same door.
What’s happening?
OpenAI has established a special division for working with government agencies and is actively expanding its team in Washington.
The first major order — $200 million from the U.S. Department of Defense for one year — involves developing advanced models for combat and operational tasks.
ChatGPT already helps military personnel automate routine operations: processing benefits, preparing reports, obtaining certificates.
Separate customized models will focus on early detection of cyberattacks.
All current projects with NASA, NIH, the Treasury, and the Air Force Laboratory are now being transferred under a new “umbrella” — so to speak, into a more secure environment.
And what does this imply?
Firstly, a new market is emerging. Government defense contracts are usually more expensive than commercial ones and require strict deadlines. Those who can integrate large language models into closed systems and pass certification will face a long queue of orders.
Secondly, new services will appear — model auditing according to security requirements: line-by-line operation logging, data control, ensuring fault tolerance.
And finally, technological progress itself. The volume of data at the defense level accelerates model training. More mature AI versions will be available for civilian clients, although their development cycle will still go through reports from defense agencies and bug reports.
Previously, large tech companies earned revenue from infrastructure: cloud data storage, satellite Wi-Fi, or analytical dashboards for government contracts. Now the situation is changing: frontier AI is being integrated directly into combat systems. Money is no longer solely spent on hardware and weapons — the main capital now lies in intelligence capable of controlling these weapons. This is where the true Skynet effect begins.