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OpenAI amends Pentagon deal, CEO Sam Altman says
OpenAI is revising its contract with the Pentagon following criticism that the agreement could enable mass surveillance of Americans. According to Axios, CEO Sam Altman sought to add explicit protections against monitoring Americans.
SAN FRANCISCO - OpenAI is revising its contract with the Pentagon following criticism that the agreement could enable mass surveillance of Americans.
What we know:
First reported by Axios, CEO Sam Altman sought to add explicit protections against monitoring Americans, including through commercially purchased data. The updated terms specify that the technology cannot be intentionally used for domestic surveillance and would not be deployed by intelligence agencies without further approval.
On Monday night, Altman also admitted on X that he had made a mistake and "shouldn’t have rushed" to get the deal out on Friday.
"We were genuinely trying to de-escalate things and avoid a much worse outcome, but I think it just looked opportunistic and sloppy," he said in the post.
What's next:
Meanwhile, protesters in San Francisco on Tuesday, who formed a group called Quit GPT, plan to demonstrate at 4 pm. outside OpenAI's San Francisco headquarters.
Big picture view:
The contract revision comes amid broader tensions between artificial intelligence companies and the federal government over military use of AI technology.
Meanwhile, Anthropic, whose chatbot Claude recently surpassed OpenAI's ChatGPT for the top spot in Apple's U.S. App Store, experienced its own highly public falling out with the Pentagon.
The company attempted to negotiate safeguards that would prevent the Department of Defense from using its AI models for mass surveillance of Americans. Anthropic also opposed the Pentagon's plan to use its technology for fully autonomous weapons systems — including drones capable of lethal action without human involvement.
When Anthropic refused to agree to those two requirements, President Trump directed all federal agencies to stop using the company's products.
Despite the fallout, Anthropic reported significant user growth, saying free users have increased more than 60 percent since January and paid subscribers have more than doubled this year.