AI Wants to Infiltrate Your Government (And It’s Already Starting)

It’s no secret that the companies developing AI want you to embrace it, and they want you to do it now.

The main reason is simple: AI is one of the most expensive technologies ever built. The infrastructure, the talent, the energy costs, the bills are stacking up fast, while large-scale profitability is still a work in progress.

I’ve already touched on this before. We’re seeing OpenAI introducing advertising models to offset costs, while Google, backed by its massive product ecosystem, can for now absorb these expenses without needing ads inside its AI tools.

With tech companies aggressively pushing enterprises to adopt AI under the promise of productivity and lower costs, despite mixed real-world results so far , the next big frontier is becoming clear:

Governments.

From Businesses to Public Institutions

It is not the first time we have heard about governments signing deals with the likes of OpenAI to develop educational systems or streamline government operations. But there has been a noticeable shift since the last Davos meeting.

At the summit, OpenAI openly spoke about the differences between countries in their adaptability to AI, suggesting this creates a gap between nations, especially regarding coding and writing. In a report published during their participation, titled ‘Ending the Capability Overhang,’ they assured leaders that:

“Most countries are still operating far short of what today’s AI systems make possible. Simply by improving the quality and depth of adoption… countries have enormous headroom to raise productivity, improve public services, and strengthen competitiveness.”

But the real question is: who benefits most from this acceleration?

Many companies are still struggling to measure tangible productivity gains from AI adoption. Numerous pilots stall or are quietly abandoned due to cost, integration issues, or lack of ROI.

So what makes us think government implementations, funded by public money, will automatically succeed?

Are we about to repeat the same expensive experiments, just at national scale?

The First Government–AI Partnerships Are Already Here

The infiltration has already begun. In the United Kingdom, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has partnered with Anthropic to deploy AI assistants on GOV.UK, aiming to help job seekers navigate complex public services.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, OpenAI solidified its relationship with the US government back in June 2025, closing a deal with the Department of Defense to apply its models to military healthcare, program data analysis, and proactive cyber defense.

Perhaps most notably, we are seeing the rise of “Sovereign AI” deals, such as OpenAI’s collaboration with the UAE. This involves developing a customised version of ChatGPT designed to align with local language, political frameworks, and content regulations.

AI Is Becoming Infrastructure

AI is already part of your job, your company, and your daily life. Now, it is becoming part of your governance.

The worrying part is the regulatory vacuum. We lack the legislation to ensure two critical things: first, that these tech giants do not use public money to establish unchallengeable monopolies; and second, that citizens’ rights, especially regarding data privacy and surveillance, are protected from this new public-private merger.

The bigger question is: Are we using AI to genuinely improve public life?

Or are governments becoming the next major revenue stream for companies racing to recover trillion-dollar investments?