OpenAI's Pentagon Deal Under Fire
OpenAI's massive Pentagon contract is facing new scrutiny after CEO Sam Altman admitted initial negotiations looked “opportunistic and sloppy.” The deal was also reportedly amended to add restrictions on AI surveillance after the Pentagon raised concerns, further fueling the controversy.
The deal materialized after the Pentagon's previous AI contractor, Anthropic, was dropped following a standoff over the military's use of its technology. The Trump administration then ordered all federal agencies to cease using Anthropic's products, designating the company a "supply chain risk to national security." Anthropic had refused contract terms that would permit "all lawful purposes" for its AI, insisting on explicit contractual bans against its use for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons systems. OpenAI initially accepted the broader "lawful use" standard before amending the agreement. The initial agreement triggered a significant backlash, with a "delete ChatGPT" campaign trending online and rival chatbot Claude surging to the top of app store charts. Nearly 900 employees from OpenAI and Google also signed an open letter protesting the use of their companies' technology for surveillance and autonomous killing. In response, OpenAI added new language to the contract explicitly stating its AI "shall not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of US persons and nationals." The amendment also clarified that intelligence agencies like the NSA cannot use the services without a future modification to the agreement. The contract is valued at up to $200 million and is intended to deploy OpenAI's models on classified networks for both back-office functions and "warfighting operations." It is part of a larger Pentagon initiative to accelerate the adoption of advanced artificial intelligence. The timing of the deal announcement further fueled public criticism, as it came just one day before the United States conducted military strikes against Iran.
