Altman Calls Pentagon Deal 'Sloppy'
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted the company's recent Pentagon contract looked "opportunistic and sloppy." The comments come as a coalition of tech workers is lobbying the DOD to reverse the "supply-chain risk" designation that led to rival Anthropic being banned from federal contracts.
The dispute began when the Pentagon demanded Anthropic remove safeguards against mass domestic surveillance and use in fully autonomous weapons from its contract. Anthropic, which had been the first AI model approved for use on classified networks, refused to eliminate these restrictions, leading to a standoff. On February 27, 2026, then-President Donald Trump ordered all federal agencies to stop using Anthropic's technology. Shortly after, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth designated Anthropic a "supply chain risk," a label historically used for foreign adversaries, and barred military contractors from doing business with the company. Hours later, OpenAI announced its own deal with the Pentagon to deploy its AI models on classified military networks. CEO Sam Altman stated the agreement was "rushed" in an effort to "de-escalate the situation" between the Department of Defense and the broader AI industry. OpenAI's contract includes "red lines" that prohibit the use of its technology for mass domestic surveillance and for directing autonomous weapons systems without human control. Following public backlash, Altman announced that the agreement was being amended to include more explicit language protecting against domestic surveillance and to prevent use by intelligence agencies like the NSA without a new agreement. The "supply chain risk" designation for Anthropic has been called "legally unsound" by the company, which has vowed to challenge it in court. Critics argue the designation exceeds the Defense Secretary's statutory authority and is an abuse of power to settle a contractual dispute. A coalition representing over 700,000 tech workers from major companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft has formally asked their employers to side with Anthropic and refuse Pentagon demands to remove AI safety guardrails. The workers' letter expressed concern that if any tech company complies, it could lead to unprecedented mass surveillance and the deployment of AI-powered drones that can kill without human oversight. The fallout from the dispute has been significant, with the General Services Administration removing Anthropic from the government's centralized AI platform, USAi.gov. Federal agencies that had been using Anthropic's Claude AI for tasks ranging from data analysis to coding now have a six-month transition period to find alternatives.
