Tech Giants Open Frontier AI Models to Federal National Security Tests

Google DeepMind, Microsoft and xAI have each agreed to share their frontier artificial intelligence models with a government agency for national security testing before releasing those models to the public.

The companies signed the agreements with the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI), which is part of the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology, CAISI said in a Tuesday (May 5) press release.

They join Anthropic and OpenAI, which signed agreements with CAISI’s predecessor, the U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute, in August 2024 and later renegotiated those agreements to match CAISI’s directives, according to the release.

CAISI is the government’s primary point of contact for the AI industry, and it works with the industry on testing, collaborative research and the development of best practices.

The agency has completed more than 40 pre-deployment evaluations of AI models, including some models that have not been released.

“Independent, rigorous measurement science is essential to understanding frontier AI and its national security implications,” CAISI Director Chris Fall said in the release. “These expanded industry collaborations help us scale our work in the public interest at a critical moment.”

This announcement follows several reports of concerns about artificial intelligence posing a threat to cybersecurity.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News Sunday (May 3) that when he and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell met with Wall Street executives on concerns about cyberthreats related to Anthropic’s Mythos AI model, they told the banks they should take the model seriously and use it to find holes in their defenses.

“What we’ve had in the past month was a step change in the power of one large language model, but we’re going to see it from the other AI companies, and it’s important that the U.S. stays ahead here,” Bessent said.

It was reported April 7 that Anthropic was allowing select partners early access to Claude Mythos Preview, a model positioned for defensive cybersecurity work, so that they could identify vulnerabilities and strengthen systems before threats could be exploited.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026, released in January, found that AI is expected to be the most consequential factor shaping cybersecurity strategies this year, with 94% of surveyed executives citing the technology as a force multiplier for both defense and offense.