Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its new AI division are secretly competing to build the future of military warfare. The companies have joined a classified Pentagon contest to create autonomous drone swarms that obey voice commands. Neither the companies nor the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit responded to requests for comment.
The timing of the contest is significant. SpaceX recently acquired xAI, bringing Musk’s space logistics and artificial intelligence teams under one roof. This consolidation happened just as SpaceX prepares for a highly anticipated initial public offering later this year.
The government kicked off this $100 million challenge in January. It is a six-month sprint, and reports suggest officials selected only a handful of contenders to participate. The winning technology needs to do something difficult: translate a human voice into code that controls multiple drones at once. This would allow a single operator to guide a swarm without needing to steer each unit individually.
This participation marks a pivot for Musk. In 2015, he joined other researchers in signing a letter that demanded a ban on “offensive autonomous weapons.” He argued then that the world should not build tools that automate lethal force. Today, his businesses are actively developing the very systems he once warned against.
Washington is eager to speed up this technology. The Defense Secretary recently ordered the military to cut through bureaucracy and buy American-made drones faster. Security is a major concern right now. With the FIFA World Cup and the America250 anniversary approaching this summer, officials need better ways to monitor and control the skies over large crowds.
Musk isn’t the only tech mogul working with the military. Last year, OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic all won contracts worth up to $200 million to help the Pentagon adopt new AI tools. As the line between Silicon Valley and national defense blurs, Musk’s companies seem determined to lead the pack.
