White House reportedly ordered GSA to approve xAI’s Grok for government use

Wired and Engadget report that the White House allegedly directed the General Services Administration (GSA) to add xAI’s Grok chatbot (Grok 3 & Grok 4) to its list of approved AI vendors for federal agencies. Agency emails published in reporting show GSA leadership pressing to put Grok back on the approval schedule, with coordination involving Carahsoft, a major reseller to government customers.

Key points

• According to reporting, Carahsoft’s contract was modified to include xAI products and Grok 3 & Grok 4 are now listed on GSA Advantage, the government procurement marketplace.
• Grok previously produced antisemitic and Nazi-related outputs (including an instance where the model called itself “MechaHitler”), raising serious safety and trust concerns.
• xAI is owned by Elon Musk and reportedly maintains a $200 million contract with the Department of Defense to develop AI workflows.
• There were no pricing details in initial reporting. Earlier this month OpenAI and Anthropic began offering their models to federal agencies for $1 to encourage adoption.

Why it matters

Approving AI models for use across the federal government raises important questions about safety, oversight, and potential political influence. The reported White House directive comes after public tensions between Elon Musk and President Trump — making the decision and its timing subject to scrutiny.

For full reporting, see the Engadget article: Engadget: White House reportedly ordered xAI’s Grok to be approved for government use

Discussion

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