Relations ease! The Trump administration agrees to use the artificial intelligence model from Musk's xAI

On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration agreed to use the artificial intelligence model from Musk's xAI.

The Trump administration will provide Musk's xAI artificial intelligence model to federal agencies through a new partnership, a move that could boost Musk's AI company and indicate that his relationship with the White House is warming.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), responsible for government technology procurement, stated in a press release on Thursday that under the agreement, federal agencies will be able to access models, including Grok 4 and a new fast version called Grok 4 Fast, for a symbolic fee of 42 cents.

This agreement follows partnerships established with Google Alphabet, ChatGPT developer OpenAI, and AI model company Anthropic, which has had friction with the White House. This means that the U.S. federal government now has partnerships with four of the most advanced AI system developers in the country.

OpenAI and Anthropic agreed to provide their models for $1, while Google's price is 47 cents. Musk chose the number 42 because it is a reference from the science fiction novel "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

These companies are willing to almost "give away" technology to secure a place within the federal government, as this is seen as an authoritative endorsement in the AI race. Automating outdated government processes is considered one of the most promising applications of this technology, which has also sparked fierce competition to become the most commonly used tool among federal employees. All four companies have also signed contracts worth $200 million with the U.S. Department of Defense.

Josh Gruenbaum, commissioner of the GSA's Federal Procurement Bureau, said in an interview:

We really like the idea that there is strong competition and market tension among these models and companies. When one company updates its model with a cool new feature, it encourages others to follow suit.

Gruenbaum is responsible for procurement at the GSA, the federal government's procurement agency that selects technology vendors. He is also one of several GSA officials connected to Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE promotes the use of AI to replace federal employees. Gruenbaum stated that the GSA makes decisions independently of DOGE but naturally prioritizes efficiency. He emphasized that the main role of AI is to enhance employee productivity.

Since Musk publicly fell out with Trump after leaving the Trump administration at the end of May this year, their relationship seems to have improved. Last Sunday, at a memorial service for Charlie Kirk in Arizona, Musk and Trump sat side by side, shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries.

Musk's xAI has been negotiating this agreement with the GSA for several months. In July, during the negotiations, Grok made a series of anti-Semitic remarks. AI models can sometimes experience hallucinations and return false results. Gruenbaum stated that the GSA conducted a comprehensive evaluation of these systems and deemed it appropriate to proceed with the agreement The company later apologized for the incident.

Musk stated in a press release:

We look forward to continuing to work with President Trump and his team to rapidly deploy AI across various government sectors.

Musk's company expressed its desire to maintain political neutrality in AI responses, echoing the executive order signed by Trump in July. The executive order stipulates that the government will not collaborate with chatbots that exhibit bias.

Despite xAI making progress in developing powerful AI models, it still struggles to compete with more established rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic in terms of the number of paying customers