When OpenAI first announced its AI defense deal with the Pentagon, CEO Sam Altman claimed that if all went well, the company could look like the “genius” who managed to ease the situation between the US government and the AI ​​industry after falling out with Anthropic. Anthropic had just walked away from signing a deal that – at least on the surface – looked mostly the same on moral and ethical grounds.

In the same beat, Sam Altman also warned that the deal may appear rushed, careless and opportunistic from the outside. Either way, OpenAI has found itself in the middle of a major controversy. As one OpenAI employee himself has gone on record to say that the deal “wasn’t worth it”, circumstantial evidence from both inside and outside the company suggests that the ChatGPT-maker may have bitten off more than it could chew.

Let’s start from the inside. The OpenAI scientist, who said the deal was not worth the trouble, was only the tip of the iceberg, although to be fair, he acknowledged that the company’s system allows employees to express their opinions and that they are proud of this culture. At an all-hands meeting, Sam Altman reportedly told staff that OpenAI and its employees did not have much say over how the Pentagon used its AI technology after the deal.

According to a Bloomberg report, his exact words were, “You don’t get a chance to make operational decisions.” Anthropic’s demands on how its AI systems are used by the military (after the deal) may be the root cause of tension between the Dario Amodei-led firm and the Pentagon. Anthropic backed out of the deal because it was concerned the military could use the cloud for large-scale domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons development.

Sam Altman admits that OpenAI doesn’t make sense directly

The US has used Anthropic’s AI systems during the attack on Iran and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. According to CNBC, Sam Altman addressed such incidents and explained, “So maybe you think the Iran attack was good, and the Venezuela invasion was bad, you shouldn’t pay attention to that.” In other words, while OpenAI can provide the security stack and technical guardrails, it cannot veto specific legal military operations and say what should and should not be done.

Please note that the Pentagon and OpenAI have stated that AI systems will only be used for “all lawful purposes.” Sam Altman has said that the company has amended its accelerated contract to ensure that its red lines are not crossed.

OpenAI VP joins Anthropic amid mass user exodus

OpenAI’s deal with the Pentagon has sparked outrage online. ChatGPT uninstallations increased by nearly 300 percent as users boycotted OpenAI chatbots. Reports indicate that ChatGPT lost more than 1.5 million subscribers in the 48 hours following the deal. Many people switched to Anthropic’s cloud chatbot to show support for the company’s stance against the Pentagon.

Turmoil may also begin within OpenAI. Earlier, 100 OpenAI employees issued a joint statement with 871 Google employees supporting Anthropic and opposing the use of AI in military surveillance.

Now, Max Schwarzer, OpenAI’s vice president of research, has left the company to join Anthropic. While Schwarzer did not blame the deal for his exit, his post on X suggests he was more inclined towards Anthropic’s “values.” “I have also been deeply impressed by Anthropic’s talent, research interests and values,” he wrote. This indicates that Anthropic’s refusal to accept Pentagon demands may have played a role in attracting the Max.

However, Sam Altman reiterated that he opposed the Pentagon’s decision to label Anthropic a supply chain risk.

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OpenAI halted deployment in US defense agencies

After widespread backlash online, OpenAI has decided to stop the deployment of its AI systems in US defense agencies like the National Security Agency (NSA).

“OpenAI will not be deployed to the NSA or other DOW intelligence agencies at this time,” OpenAI staff member Noam Brown wrote on X. Brown acknowledged that the hasty agreement left “questions unanswered” such as “some of the new ways in which AI could potentially enable legal surveillance.”

According to Brown, the contract language has been updated. OpenAI will “remove these flaws through a democratic process” before deploying its systems to these agencies.

Dario Amodei criticizes Sam Altman over OpenAI deal

Following the announcement of Sam Altman’s deal with the Pentagon, Anthropic boss Dario Amodei claimed that OpenAI’s arguments defending the deal were full of lies. In an internal memo, Amodei said that the public was able to witness a “gaslighting” effort by Altman. He expressed hope that OpenAI employees would also be able to see it.

Amodei also said that the public was viewing Anthropic as a “hero” due to his refusal to accede to the Pentagon’s demands, despite Altman’s efforts to be a peacemaker.