Trump Admin to Use Pentagon AI for Critical Minerals Pricing in Global Trading Zone

Published: Feb 27, 2026 18:03

Three informed sources revealed that the Trump administration plans to use an AI model developed by the Pentagon to simulate reference prices for critical minerals in its proposed "Global Metal Trading Zone."

Earlier this month, US Vice President Vance suggested that the United States and more than 50 other countries should adopt "reference prices for critical mineral products at varying degrees of processing," supplemented by "adjustable tariffs to maintain the systematic nature of pricing."

According to these sources, the reference prices for critical mineral products will be determined by the US Department of Defense's (DoD) Open Price Exploration for National Security (OPEN) AI Metals Initiative.

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