Altman Calls Pentagon Deal 'Sloppy'
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman now admits the company's privileged Pentagon deal "looked opportunistic and sloppy." His comments follow reports that OpenAI made a series of concessions, including amending its core privacy and security policies, to secure the controversial contract.
The controversial deal followed the Pentagon's designation of OpenAI's rival, Anthropic, as a "supply chain risk." Anthropic had refused to agree to terms that would permit its AI to be used for mass domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons without human control. This refusal led to the termination of their existing contract, creating a vacuum that OpenAI quickly filled. In January 2024, OpenAI had already amended its usage policy, removing explicit bans on "military and warfare." The original agreement with the Pentagon allowed for "any lawful applications," which critics pointed out could legally justify mass surveillance programs, similar to the NSA's PRISM data collection. The backlash to the deal was swift, prompting a "delete ChatGPT" campaign online. In response, competitor Anthropic's chatbot, Claude, surged to the top of Apple's App Store charts. The criticism wasn't just external; nearly 900 employees from OpenAI and Google signed an open letter opposing the use of their companies' technology for surveillance and autonomous killing. In response to the outcry, OpenAI amended the contract to explicitly prohibit the intentional use of its AI for domestic surveillance of U.S. citizens, including through commercially acquired personal data. The updated agreement also bars intelligence agencies like the NSA from using OpenAI's services under the current contract. Sam Altman stated he would "rather go to jail" than comply with an unconstitutional order.
