OpenAI adds protections to Pentagon deal

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Monday that the company has added further protections to its agreement with the Pentagon to bring its AI models to the military’s classified network.

The latest additions come as the ChatGPT maker faced pushback over the deal, which came on the heels of the Trump administration’s announcement Friday that it was cutting off its work with Anthropic and labeling the company a supply chain risk.

OpenAI is amending the agreement to include language noting that as is “consistent with applicable laws,” its AI models “shall not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of U.S. persons and nationals,” Altman said in an internal post later shared on the social platform X.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Department understands this limitation to prohibit deliberate tracking, surveillance, or monitoring of U.S. persons or nationals, including through the procurement or use of commercially acquired personal or identifiable information,” the updated language continues.

Altman noted that the Pentagon also affirmed to OpenAI that its services will not be used by the department’s intelligence agencies, such as the National Security Agency (NSA).

“For extreme clarity: we want to work through democratic processes,” the company’s CEO said. “It should be the government making the key decisions about society.” We want to have a voice, and a seat at the table where we can share our expertise, and to fight for principles of liberty.”

However, 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. We will work through these, slowly, with the [Defense Department], with technical safeguards and other methods.”

Altman also said the company “shouldn’t have rushed” to get the agreement out Friday, suggesting they “were genuinely trying to de-escalate things and avoid a much worse outcome, but I think it just looked opportunistic and sloppy.”

The deal was announced just hours after President Trump directed federal agencies to “immediately cease” using Anthropic’s technology. The company called Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision Friday to designate the AI company as a supply chain risk an “unprecedented action” and “legally unsound,” and vowed to challenge the move.

This came after weeks of tense negotiations between the Pentagon and Anthropic over the firm’s terms of use for its AI models. It argued for restrictions on the use of its technology for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous lethal weapons, while the Defense Department sought broader “all lawful purposes” language.

Notably, the Pentagon agreed to largely the same limitations in its agreement with OpenAI, which barred the military from using its AI models for mass surveillance, autonomous weapons systems or “high-stakes automated decisions.”

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