"OpenAI CEO Sam Altman voiced his support for Anthropic in its dispute with the Pentagon over the use of its AI for targeting autonomous weapons and in domestic mass surveillance. He did so in a company meeting and during a CNBC Squawk Box appearance last Friday, the day Anthropic was effectively blacklisted by the Trump administration."
"But two days earlier, on Wednesday, Altman had reportedly already begun talking to the Pentagon about a contract that would let OpenAI effectively replace Anthropic as the sole supplier of AI models for classified information. The day after Anthropic missed its "deadline" for agreeing to the Pentagon's terms, Altman announced on X that his company had reached an agreement with the Pentagon."
"It seemed odd that OpenAI's lawyers would be able to do that on such a tight timeline, while Anthropic's lawyers weren't able to do so over the weeks the company spent negotiating with the Pentagon. Altman seemed to try to explain it away in a March 1 tweet: "I think Anthropic may have wanted more operational control than we did.""
Sam Altman expressed support for Anthropic's resistance to Pentagon demands regarding AI use in autonomous weapons and domestic surveillance. However, Altman was simultaneously negotiating with the Pentagon to have OpenAI replace Anthropic as the primary AI supplier for classified work. OpenAI quickly secured a contract with Pentagon guarantees against autonomous weapons and surveillance use, while Anthropic's negotiations over weeks failed to achieve similar protections. Anthropic's CEO characterized OpenAI's safety commitments as "safety theater." Altman later acknowledged the optics of securing the deal immediately after Anthropic's blacklisting appeared problematic, though he attributed the difference to Anthropic's desire for greater operational control.
Read at Fast Company
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