ChatGPT Enters Key US Government Security Review Process
OpenAI has taken a significant step toward making its ChatGPT tool directly available to the US federal government, clearing another critical hurdle in the process.
ChatGPT Begins Crucial FedRAMP Security Review
As of Tuesday, ChatGPT is now officially listed as “in process” on the FedRAMP Marketplace, an online portal that tracks the security review status of cloud technology companies. FedRAMP is recognized as the government’s primary security review program, designed to approve cloud-based technologies for broad use across all federal agencies. While individual agencies can grant their own approvals, a FedRAMP authorization streamlines widespread adoption.
The official review for ChatGPT began on Tuesday, according to the FedRAMP website.
A Fast Track for AI Authorization
A source familiar with the situation informed FedScoop that OpenAI received a prioritized authorization through a new program called 20x. This makes OpenAI the first company to benefit from this prioritization, which conveniently removes the requirement for companies to find a federal agency to sponsor them through the review. Previously, OpenAI had discussed sponsorship with USAID, its first enterprise customer, but those plans were complicated by changes during the second Trump administration, as FedScoop previously reported.
This prioritized review for AI cloud services was established just last month by the General Services Administration (GSA), which did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
The Race for Government AI Contracts
AI companies are rapidly working to strengthen their relationships with the government. In recent weeks, major players like OpenAI and Anthropic have announced highly discounted access to their products via the GSA. These tools are also being made available through a new government platform called USAi. Sources suggest this aggressive pricing is a strategic move to encourage federal agencies to accelerate their internal approval processes.
Meanwhile, established government contractors like Google and Microsoft are leveraging their existing cloud infrastructure to promote their own AI tools to federal agencies. Without an independent FedRAMP approval, companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI have traditionally needed to partner with these pre-approved cloud providers to offer their technology to government clients.
Competitive Maneuvers in the AI Sector
The competitive landscape is dynamic. Notably, xAI was initially slated to be part of a set of AI partnership announcements but was added and then removed from a Carahsoft offering through the GSA. According to a report from Wired, the White House later instructed the GSA to reinstate the offering. As a result, Grok, xAI's large language model, is now listed again for government procurement.
