(Reuters) - Lockheed Martin said on Monday it had formed a subsidiary that will help U.S. defense companies incorporate artificial intelligence into their operations.

Companies across sectors have leaned more on AI over the past few years to help optimize their workflow. However, defense companies have remained cautious given the sensitive data required to train models in the sector.

Earlier this month, privately held defense tech company Anduril Industries partnered with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI to develop and deploy advanced artificial intelligence solutions for national security missions.

Lockheed said the subsidiary, Astris AI, will also focus on enabling the adoption of AI solutions in some commercial applications.

The subsidiary will be headed by Lockheed Martin's chief revenue officer Donna O'Donnell, who has previously overseen a team at Xerox covering automation and generative AI.

Industry executives say President-elect Donald Trump's planned U.S. government efficiency drive involving Elon Musk could lead to more joint projects between big defense contractors and smaller tech firms in areas such as artificial intelligence, drones and uncrewed submarines.

(Reporting by Anshuman Tripathy in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)