OpenAI robotics lead resigns over surveillance and lethal-autonomy concerns

Caitlin Kalinowski has resigned from OpenAI's robotics division and posted a warning on her X account. She wrote, "This wasn’t an easy call. AI has an important role in national security. But surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization are lines that deserved more deliberation than they got." Two weeks earlier, Anthropic and the US Department of War had a falling out after Anthropic refused to remove safeguards on its AI tools for use in weaponry and mass surveillance, and OpenAI then entered talks to take the deal.

Sam Altman later said "we shouldn't have rushed to get this out on Friday", and that the Department of War wouldn't use OpenAI's tool in US intelligence agencies like the NSA. He added: "There are many things the technology just isn’t ready for, and many areas we don’t yet understand the tradeoffs required for safety.

United States

caitlin kalinowski, openai, robotics, resignation, surveillance, lethal autonomy, anthropic, sam altman, nsa, national security