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OpenAI has now struck a deal for the Department of Defense to use its AI systems, CEO Sam Altman announced, hours after President Trump said the US government would stop using those of competitor Anthropic.
Altman said in a post on X: “Tonight, we reached an agreement with the Department of War to deploy our models in their classified network.
“In all of our interactions, the DoW displayed a deep respect for safety and a desire to partner to achieve the best possible outcome.
“AI safety and wide distribution of benefits are the core of our mission. Two of our most important safety principles are prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems. The DoW agrees with these principles, reflects them in law and policy, and we put them into our agreement.”
The announcement came within hours of President Trump’s decision to halt all use of Anthropic’s AI technology.
Anthropic executives had expressed concerns about how its technology might be used by the US government for surveillance and autonomous weapons systems.
“We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that he would be directing his department to label Anthropic a “supply-chain risk to national security.”
“Effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic,” Hegseth said on social media.
Anthropic responded by saying they would “challenge any supply chain risk designation in court,” adding that “no amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War will change our position on mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons.”
