The US government is moving to bring artificial intelligence deeper into day-to-day defense operations, awarding a $70 million contract to California tech firm Striveworks.
The deal will provide up to 950,000 defense personnel with access to the company’s AI operations platform, Chariot Core, supporting its expanded operational use across the force.
Striveworks said Chariot Core supports cloud-to-edge operations and integrates data from sources such as satellite imagery, drone feeds, and electronic intelligence to enable multi-domain awareness and threat detection.
The system is designed to maintain performance across changing environments by enabling continuous model updates and adaptation.
The new agreement will cover building infrastructure to sustain AI in contested environments, reducing processing timelines from months to hours while maintaining performance.
“We built Striveworks on the belief that the legacy model no longer works, and that real systems improvement happens when you bring in a leaner, more agile, outcomes-focused partner,” said Jim Rebesco, co-founder and CEO of Striveworks.
He added that contracts like this reduce acquisition burden on the military, allowing teams to focus on delivery while expanding AI systems across additional agencies.
Chariot Core is already in use across the US Army and US Navy, as well as combatant commands including US European Command, US Indo-Pacific Command, and US Central Command, supporting multi-domain operations.
The move reflects a Pentagon shift from AI experimentation toward operational deployment at scale under its “AI-first” strategy.
