Top Pentagon AI official sold up to $25 million in Perplexity stock while overseeing military AI policy
Emil Michael, the senior Defense Department official responsible for military AI decisions, has now offloaded shares in a second major AI company after selling up to $24 million in Elon Musk's xAI earlier this year.
Key points
- Emil Michael, the Pentagon's top military AI policy official, sold his stake in AI search company Perplexity for between $5 million and $25 million, according to federal financial disclosures.
- Earlier in 2025, Michael sold shares in xAI, Elon Musk's AI company, for up to $24 million, with gains of between 400% and 4,800% on his original investment.
- Federal financial disclosure rules report dollar ranges rather than exact figures, so the precise amounts are not public.
- Michael's role at the Pentagon puts him directly in charge of shaping how the US military adopts and buys AI technology.
The official who decides how the US military uses artificial intelligence has been quietly cashing out of the very industry he regulates.
Emil Michael, the senior Pentagon official responsible for military AI policy, sold his personal stock in Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine that competes with Google and ChatGPT, for somewhere between $5 million and $25 million. The sale was recorded in federal financial disclosures first reported by the Guardian.
Why does this matter to ordinary Americans?
It matters because Michael shapes which AI companies win government contracts worth billions of dollars. A policy official who holds, then sells, large personal investments in the companies he oversees raises straightforward conflict-of-interest questions.
Federal disclosure rules require senior officials to report the value of financial transactions in broad ranges, not exact numbers, which is why the figures span such wide gaps. The rules are designed for transparency, but critics argue the wide bands make it hard for the public to see the full picture.
This is not Michael's first such disclosure. Earlier in 2025, the Guardian revealed he had sold shares in xAI, Elon Musk's AI company and the maker of the Grok chatbot, pocketing up to $24 million. His return on that investment ran between 400% and 4,800%, depending on which end of the reported range you use.
What is Perplexity, and why does it matter here?
Perplexity is a privately held AI company that builds a search engine powered by large language models, the technology behind chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude. It answers questions in plain sentences rather than returning a list of web links. The company has been in active discussions with government and enterprise clients.
Because Perplexity is private, ordinary investors cannot buy its shares on a stock exchange. Early access typically goes to insiders, venture capital firms and employees. A multimillion-dollar personal stake implies Michael was an early private investor.
What should readers watch for?
This story is less about a cyberattack or a scam and more about the structural risk that comes when the people making AI policy for the world's largest military also hold personal financial positions in AI companies.
Watch for three things as this develops. First, whether the Defense Department requires Michael to recuse himself from decisions that involve Perplexity or xAI. Second, whether Congress asks for a fuller accounting of his holdings. Third, whether any AI procurement decisions from his office are reviewed for potential conflicts.
The officials responsible for keeping military AI honest need to be beyond financial reproach. When they are not, public trust in those decisions erodes, and that matters for everyone who relies on a military that increasingly depends on AI systems to function.
