Backlash grows after OpenAI's Pentagon deal

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced a deal with the Pentagon on February 28 that gave the department access to its AI models. The agreement followed Anthropic rejecting a similar contract; Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said, "We cannot in good conscience accede to their request." The prospect of the Pentagon using the technology raised concerns about weaponization and surveillance.

The deal prompted internal opposition. Caitlin Kalinowski, who led OpenAI's robotics division, resigned, writing that "surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization are lines that deserved more deliberation than they got." A spokesperson said the agreement creates "a workable path for responsible national security uses of AI" while asserting red lines: no domestic surveillance and no autonomous weapons.

Nearly 900 former and current OpenAI and Google staffers had also signed a petition opposing use of the companies' tech for autonomous weapons and mass surveillance. Customers responded as well.

United States

openai, sam altman, pentagon, ai models, anthropic, dario amodei, surveillance, weaponization, autonomous weapons, caitlin kalinowski