Trump Administration Plans To Use Pentagon-Developed AI For Critical Mineral Price Benchmarks: Report

• The OPEN program focuses on metals that are traded in very low volumes.
• Earlier this month, JD Vance introduced a proposal to form a preferred trade bloc focused on critical minerals.
• Trump recently announced plans to establish a strategic stockpile of critical minerals, supported by $10 billion in funding from the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

The Trump administration is reportedly looking to deploy a Pentagon-built artificial intelligence system to help establish benchmark prices for critical minerals.

Officials will initially apply the U.S. Department of War’s Open Price Exploration for National Security (OPEN) AI pricing model to four critical minerals: germanium, gallium, antimony, and tungsten, according to a Reuters report on Tuesday.

The OPEN program focuses on metals that are traded in very low volumes. Next year, it will move under the control of the non-profit Critical Minerals Forum (CMF). CMF said it works with government-funded partners to test AI pricing models and support commercially viable mining and processing projects.

A Price-Floor System To Reinforce Supply Chains

This comes days after a Bloomberg report stated that the U.S. was moving forward with a price-floor system for critical minerals to reinforce supply chains tied to national security. The plan, crafted by several federal agencies, is being reviewed with allies as Washington looks to shield Western companies from pricing pressure linked to Chinese supply dominance.

Trump, who has been very vocal about strengthening the country’s critical minerals supply chain, recently announced that his administration plans to establish a strategic stockpile of critical minerals, supported by $10 billion in initial funding from the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

Earlier this month, U.S. Vice President JD Vance introduced a proposal to form a preferred trade bloc among allied nations focused on critical minerals. The plan includes coordinated price floors to reduce China’s influence over materials essential to semiconductors, electric vehicles, and advanced defense systems.

China has long dominated the processing of several key minerals and has used that position to influence global supply and pricing. U.S. officials say the new strategy is designed to stabilize markets and help allies diversify supply sources.

Critical minerals companies traded higher at the time of writing, with MP Materials (MP) up 3%, Critical Metals (CRML) rising 2%, and USA Rare Earth (USAR) jumping more than 5%.

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