Google (GOOGL) Strengthens Pentagon Ties after Anthropic Fallout

FomoAnxiety · 2026-03-18T23:26:15+00:00

Google is strengthening its partnership with the U.S. military amid tensions between the Pentagon and Anthropic. After meeting with military officials, Google introduced enhanced AI tools for defense, despite past controversies. Analysts maintain a positive outlook on GOOGL shares.

FomoAnxiety

2026-03-18 23:26:15

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Tech giant Google GOOGL -1.11% ▼ is reportedly expanding its relationship with the U.S. military following the recent tensions between the Pentagon and AI company Anthropic, according to The New York Times. The situation began last month when Anthropic and the Department of War disagreed over how AI should be used in military settings. During that time, Google quietly moved to strengthen its own position. On February 26, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian met with Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering Emil Michael and offered to expand the use of Google’s AI tools within the U.S. military.

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Soon after that meeting, the Pentagon labeled Anthropic as a potential supply chain risk and moved forward with a separate agreement with OpenAI to deploy its AI models on a classified government network. At the same time, Google added new capabilities to its Gemini for Government program, which was originally introduced in December 2025. The program is designed to provide government agencies with secure AI tools that are tailored for public-sector and defense-related work.

Meanwhile, Google’s tools, such as GenAI.mil and Agent Designer, allow the Department of War’s civilian staff and military personnel to build AI agents that help with unclassified tasks. According to the company, these systems are already used by five branches of the U.S. military and have more than one million users. Although Google previously faced internal backlash in 2018 over Project Maven, which used AI to analyze drone surveillance footage, the company never fully ended its relationship with the military.

Are GOOGL Shares a Good Buy?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on GOOGL stock based on 26 Buys and six Holds assigned in the past three months. Furthermore, the average GOOGL price target of $376.57 per share implies 22% upside potential.

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