The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded OpenAI a $200 million contract to develop advanced artificial-intelligence capabilities for national security, marking the ChatGPT creator’s first direct agreement with the Pentagon. The one-year pilot, issued through the department’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office and executed by OpenAI Public Sector LLC, calls for prototype “frontier” AI systems that can support both warfighting and administrative tasks across the military. A contract notice states that work is expected to be completed by July 2026. The deal underscores the Pentagon’s drive to integrate commercial generative-AI technology into defense operations as it seeks to modernize cyber defense, logistics and battlefield decision-making. For San Francisco-based OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft, the award represents a strategic expansion beyond consumer and enterprise markets into sensitive government work.