OpenAI will amend Defense Department deal to prevent mass surveillance in the US

Source: Engadget

Background

OpenAI’s Sam Altman announced that the company will amend its deal with the Defense Department to explicitly prohibit the use of its AI system for mass surveillance of Americans. Altman shared an internal memo on X, outlining the planned changes to the agreement.

Amended Deal Details

The memo states that the revised contract will include language such as:

“Consistent with applicable laws, including the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, National Security Act of 1947, FISA Act of 1978, the AI system shall not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of U.S. persons and nationals.
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.”

Altman also claimed that the agency affirmed its services would not be used by intelligence agencies, including the NSA, without a contract modification. He added that if presented with an order he believed to be unconstitutional, he would rather go to jail than comply.

Altman’s Reflections

In the memo, Altman admitted that OpenAI rushed to finalize the deal on Friday, February 27, noting that the issues were “super complex and demand clear communication.” He explained that the company was “trying to de‑escalate things and avoid a much worse outcome,” but acknowledged that the timing made the move appear opportunistic.

Anthropic Context

• President Trump ordered all U.S. government agencies to stop using Anthropic’s Claude and other Anthropic services.
• The Defense Department, led by Secretary Pete Hegseth, pressured Anthropic to remove AI guardrails so the technology could be used for “lawful” purposes, including mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. Anthropic refused, stating that “no amount of intimidation or punishment” would change its position on these issues.
• The Pentagon also began steps to designate Anthropic as a “supply chain risk,” a label typically reserved for Chinese companies.

Altman said he urged officials not to label Anthropic as a supply chain risk and hoped the Defense Department would offer Anthropic a deal similar to OpenAI’s. In an AMA on X, he clarified that he did not know the specifics of Anthropic’s agreement but believed the company should have agreed if the terms were comparable.

Market Impact

Following the publicity around OpenAI’s deal:

• Anthropic’s Claude rose to the number‑one spot on the App Store’s Top Free Apps leaderboard, surpassing both ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
• Anthropic introduced a memory import tool to ease migration from other chatbots.
• Sensor Tower reported that uninstalls of the ChatGPT app surged by 295 % day‑over‑day.