OpenAI's Pentagon deal: 'Definitely rushed,' says CEO Sam Altman
OpenAI just reached an agreement with the Pentagon, right after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth called rival Anthropic a "supply chain risk" and President Trump told agencies to stop using its tech.
The move caught attention for its timing and lack of details.
OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman admitted the deal was "definitely rushed" and said, "the optics don't look good."
Altman defends decision, says responsible AI use is priority
Altman defended the decision, saying OpenAI wanted to help the US military use AI safely—with strong safeguards in place.
OpenAI said in a blog post, "We think the US military absolutely needs strong AI models to support their mission especially," showing they're focused on responsible use even under pressure.
Instead of strict contract rules, OpenAI relies on technical safeguards
Instead of strict contract rules like Anthropic, OpenAI relies on technical safeguards: their AI is only cloud-based and accessed with cleared OpenAI engineers in the loop—no direct plugging into weapons or autonomous systems.
As Katrina Mulligan from OpenAI put it: "Deployment architecture matters more than contract language."
Under Sam Altman's leadership, OpenAI has advanced AI tech
Sam Altman has been at the helm.
Under his leadership, OpenAI has pushed forward some of today's most advanced AI tech—though not without tough calls like this one.