US government confirms Grok AI used in Iran strikes

The United States government has confirmed that Elon Musk's artificial intelligence tool, Grok, was used in military strikes against Iran, marking a significant public acknowledgment of a commercial AI model's role in lethal operations. The revelation came in a Department of Justice legal brief dated June 15, 2026, which was filed in defense of xAI, Musk's company, in an unrelated environmental lawsuit.

According to sworn testimony from Pentagon AI chief Cameron Stanley presented in the brief, a government-focused version of Grok was integrated into Project Maven, the military's AI-assisted targeting program. Stanley stated that the Maven Smart Systems, powered by the Grok Gov Model, enabled U.S. forces to deploy over 2,000 munitions against 2,000 distinct targets within a 96-hour period during an operation dubbed Epic Fury. He praised the technology for providing greatly increased operational efficiency.

The disclosure emerged not from a planned military announcement but from legal proceedings. The Justice Department filed the brief to argue against an environmental lawsuit brought by the NAACP, which alleges xAI is operating dozens of gas-powered turbines without proper...