他刚卖了xAI股票，五角大楼就宣布全面采用Grok

Emil Michael entered the Pentagon as under secretary for research and engineering with a disclosed xAI stake valued at up to $1 million. By January, he’d sold it for between $5 million and $25 million—marking a return of 400% to nearly 5,000%.

On December 18, he received an ethics certificate ordering divestment. Four days later, the department—now rebranding itself as the Department of War—announced it would deploy xAI’s technology across its 3 million personnel. Michael waited until January 9 to sell.

That timing came after the Pentagon had already named Grok one of just four approved AI systems back in July 2025.

Federal law bars officials from taking part in decisions that personally benefit them. A former White House ethics lawyer said Michael’s actions could amount to “a criminal violation” if he influenced deals while still holding shares. The Pentagon says he was “in full compliance.”

During the same period, Michael publicly clashed with Anthropic’s CEO—calling him a “liar” on X—while evaluating competing AI vendors. His close ties to Elon Musk were no secret.

Three days after Michael’s sale, Defense Secretary Hegseth visited Musk’s Stargate facility and praised him—not as a recused official, but as a central figure behind the Pentagon’s AI push.

The department now openly credits Michael for launching the xAI initiative, even though he stood to profit from it.