{"id":203646,"date":"2026-04-09T15:35:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T19:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/09\/us-defense-official-overseeing-ai-reaped-millions-selling-xai-stock-after-pentagon-entered-agreement-with-company-us-military\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T15:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T19:45:14","slug":"us-defense-official-overseeing-ai-reaped-millions-selling-xai-stock-after-pentagon-entered-agreement-with-company-us-military","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/09\/us-defense-official-overseeing-ai-reaped-millions-selling-xai-stock-after-pentagon-entered-agreement-with-company-us-military\/","title":{"rendered":"US defense official overseeing AI reaped millions selling xAI stock after Pentagon entered agreement with company | US military"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/09\/pentagon-ai-xai-emil-michael\">US defense official overseeing AI reaped millions selling xAI stock after Pentagon entered agreement with company | US military<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/09\/pentagon-ai-xai-emil-michael\">https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/09\/pentagon-ai-xai-emil-michael<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Publish Date: <a href=\"publish_date]\">2026-04-09 15:35:00<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Source Domain: <a href=\"www.theguardian.com\">www.theguardian.com<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Emil Michael, the Pentagon\u2019s under secretary for research and engineering, made a significant financial gain of up to $24 million from the sale of his private investment in Elon Musk\u2019s AI company, xAI, generating a return of 400% to 4,800%.<\/li>\n<li>Michael held the AI shares through a company called KQ Partners, and the investments were valued between $500,000 and $1 million at the time he joined the department in May 2025.<\/li>\n<li>During Michael\u2019s tenure, the Pentagon formed two agreements with xAI: first, in July, marking Grok as one of four AI providers, and second, in December, which involved the deployment of AI capabilities.<\/li>\n<li>Michael did not sell his xAI shares until January 9, 2026, which was required to comply with conflict of interest laws, raising ethical concerns among observers.<\/li>\n<li>Legal experts argue that Michael\u2019s actions could have potentially violated federal laws prohibiting government officials from benefiting financially from their official duties.<\/li>\n<li>The Department of War stated that Michael complied with all ethics laws and regulations, though questions persist about the nature of his prior investment and subsequent actions.<\/li>\n<li>Michael, well-known in both the defense and tech sectors, played a pivotal role in the Pentagon&#8217;s aggressive push for AI integration, notably clashing with AI firm Anthropic over ethical concerns.<\/li>\n<li>Musk\u2019s xAI, which created the Grok chatbot, has faced controversy, particularly regarding the development of sexualized deepfakes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US defense official overseeing AI reaped millions selling xAI stock after Pentagon entered agreement 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