Senator Elizabeth Warren is pressing the Pentagon to ensure fair competition in its artificial intelligence contracting processes amid growing concerns about market concentration and data security in the rapidly evolving defense tech landscape.
In a letter addressed to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on May 28, Warren urged the Department of Defense to implement robust competitive practices for AI procurement. "I seek to ensure that the DoD's procurement decisions encourage competition and avoid consolidation that can lead to higher prices, concentration of risk, and the stifling of innovation," Warren wrote, requesting a response by June 11 on the department's AI acquisition practices.
The senator's concerns come as tech billionaire Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok, developed by his company xAI, reportedly gains ground within federal government agencies. Notably, Musk met with Hegseth and members of the xAI team at the Pentagon on May 21 - his second known visit to the department's headquarters in recent months.
Warren's letter specifically questioned how the Pentagon plans to prevent vendor lock-in and protect government data, asking pointedly: "How does DoD plan to ensure government data is not used to illegally train commercially available AI algorithms?"
The timing is significant as the Pentagon has already awarded $9 billion in contracts to major tech companies including Google, Oracle, Microsoft, and Amazon to build its cloud computing network, and has requested an additional $1.8 billion for AI programs for fiscal year 2025.
This push for competition aligns with Warren's broader legislative efforts. In May 2025, she and Republican Senator Eric Schmitt reintroduced the bipartisan Protecting AI and Cloud Competition in Defense Act, which aims to ensure the Pentagon's contracting for AI and cloud computing tools prioritizes resiliency and competition while preventing Big Tech monopolies from dominating the market. The bill would require competitive award processes for cloud computing and AI contracts, particularly for vendors with contracts totaling $50 million or more with the department in previous years.
The White House's Office of Management and Budget released guidance in April directing federal agencies to ensure competitive AI procurement, though notably this guidance exempted defense and national security applications - creating what some lawmakers view as a significant oversight gap in the rapidly evolving AI defense sector.