Pentagon AI chief’s stock sales raise ethics questions amid multi-million gains

Federal financial disclosures indicate that Emil Michael, who oversees military artificial-intelligence policy, sold his Perplexity shares in June for a value reported between $5 million and $25 million, though the exact profit is unclear. Earlier in the year, he earned a sizable return from selling his investment in Elon Musk’s xAI, with gains reported between 400 % and 4,800 %. Michael’s filings also show he received a personal loan from Perplexity last year and served on its advisory board before resigning when he entered federal service, with some of his stock vested and some unvested under an ethics pledge.

Ethics expert Richard Painter criticized the timing of Michael’s holdings, saying most administrations would require divestiture before taking the job, while the Pentagon maintains that all rules were followed. Separate records reveal Michael earned at least a 473 % return from selling his stake in Brex LLC, a financial-software firm acquired by Capital One, with the sale value reported between $5 million and $24 million. Michael’s involvement with AI firms has drawn attention because of his public role in shaping defense AI policy.