Lies, gaslighting: Dario Amodei calls OpenAI-Pentagon AI deal security theater, Big Tech backs Anthropic
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei claimed in an internal memo to his employees that OpenAI’s deal with the Pentagon was full of lies. OpenAI reached a deal with the US military just hours after Anthropic’s contract was terminated due to disagreements over unrestricted AI use.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has criticized OpenAI’s deal with the US Department of Defense over its use of AI. In an internal memo, Amodei claimed that statements made by the Sam Altman-led startup were full of lies. Sam Altman attempted to position OpenAI as a de-escalator following the Pentagon’s disagreement with Anthropic.
According to a report by The Information, Amodei described OpenAI’s characterization of the Pentagon contract as “straight up lies” and labeled their approach to security as “security theater”.
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OpenAI reached an agreement with the US Department of Defense just hours after Anthropic’s contract expired. However Sam Altman later admitted that his hasty agreement with the Pentagon seemed bad and opportunistic.
Dario Amodei explains the main reason OpenAI accepted the Pentagon deal
In the memo, Amodei claimed that the real reason OpenAI took the Pentagon deal was because the AI firm was not focused on preventing misuse of AI systems, something Anthropic cared about. “The main reason (OpenAI) accepted (the DoD deal) and we didn’t is that they cared about satisfying employees, and we actually cared about preventing abuses,” he wrote.
Anthropic had previously said it was walking away from the deal over fears its systems could be used in domestic mass surveillance or the development of autonomous weapons. The Pentagon reportedly refused to accept these security measures and wanted the ability to use AI for all “legitimate” purposes.
However OpenAI has said that it will not even allow its system to be used for such cases. Sam Altman also shared a revised agreement a few days ago, emphasizing these red lines.
Dario Amodei says US government doesn’t like Anthropic because of political donations
In the same memo, Dario Amodei alleged that another reason the US government is not happy with Anthropic is that the AI firm did not donate to President Donald Trump’s election campaign last year. On the other hand, OpenAI Chairman Greg Brockman and his wife donated $25 million to the Trump Super PAC.
Amodei said, “The real reason (the War Department) and the Trump administration don’t like us is that we haven’t donated to Trump (whereas OpenAI/Gregg has donated a lot).”
What happened to Anthropic’s contract?
Anthropic’s contract was terminated by US President Donald Trump after which the company was designated as a supply chain risk.
Later, US Under Secretary of Defense Emil Michael called Amodei a “liar” with a “god complex” over his claims. Michael said Anthropic placed conditions such as prohibiting the military from using data obtained from public sources such as LinkedIn.
But keep in mind that the US is using Anthropic’s AI in its attacks on Iran. The US government is expected to go through a 6-month transition period when switching to OpenAI’s model.
Tech group sent letter to Pentagon
The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), which includes companies like Google and Nvidia, sent a letter to the Pentagon on Wednesday. The letter does not explicitly name Anthropic, but presumably refers to its supply chain risk designation threatened by Pete Hegseth.
“We are concerned by recent reports regarding the War Department’s consideration of imposing a supply chain risk designation in response to a procurement dispute,” the letter said.
ITI urged the US Defense Department to resolve the disputes through discussion or look for alternative providers rather than imposing this label on the firm. “Emergency authorization such as supply chain risk designations exist for true emergencies and are generally reserved for entities that have been designated as foreign adversaries,” the letter reads.
Companies labeled as supply chain risks are prohibited from working with any US defense contractor.
Dario Amodei calls Mankind a public hero
OpenAI received a huge response online after the deal with the Pentagon. Users began uninstalling ChatGPT and switching to Anthropic’s cloud chatbot. OpenAI chatbots saw a nearly 300 percent increase in uninstalls.
The cloud topped the charts in the US App Store, and also moved down on two separate occasions due to increased usage.
Dario Amodei was aware of this public sentiment. He wrote that while Altman was “presenting himself as a peacemaker and dealmaker,” the public was not accepting his views. Amodei said, “I think this attempt at spin/gaslighting is not working very well on the general public or the media, where people mostly view OpenAI’s deal with the DoW as incomplete or questionable, and see us as heroes (we’re now #2 in the App Store!).”
However, Amodei was concerned that some OpenAI employees might fall for Altman’s messaging and not understand the situation. He added, “It doesn’t matter if it’s working on some Twitter idiots, but my main concern is how to make sure it doesn’t work on OpenAI employees.”