Pentagon taps OpenAI for classified AI after Anthropic standoff

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced late on Friday that the company has reached an agreement allowing the Department of Defense—the United States military agency, which the current administration also refers to as the Department of War—to use its AI models in the department’s classified network. Under the agreement, OpenAI will build technical safeguards and deploy engineers with the Pentagon to assist with the models and ensure their safety. “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,” said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Altman noted that the Department of War agrees with these principles and reflects them in law and policy.

The deal follows a high-profile standoff between the military and OpenAI’s rival, Anthropic. The conflict escalated after Anthropic and the Pentagon failed to reach an agreement on technology use. In a statement released Thursday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei stated that the company never raised objections to particular military operations nor attempted to limit use of our technology in an ad hoc manner, but noted that in a narrow set of cases, he believes AI can undermine democratic values. In response, President Donald Trump criticized the Leftwing nut jobs at Anthropic and directed federal agencies to stop using Anthropic products after a six-month phase-out period. In a separate post, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth claimed Anthropic was trying to seize veto power over the operational decisions of the United States military. Hegseth also designated the company as a supply-chain risk, banning any contractor, supplier, or partner doing business with the military from conducting commercial activity with Anthropic. Anthropic has stated it will challenge the supply-chain risk designation in court.

This tension was highlighted this week when more than 60 OpenAI employees and 300 Google employees signed an open letter supporting Anthropic’s position. Amid this internal pressure, Altman sought to de-escalate tensions. Fortune reporter Sharon Goldman reported that Altman told OpenAI employees at an all-hands meeting that the government will allow the company to build a safety stack to prevent misuse. Under these terms, if the model refuses to perform a task, the government would not force OpenAI to make it do so. Altman stated that OpenAI is asking the Department of War to offer these same terms to all AI companies, expressing a desire to see the situation de-escalate away from legal actions and toward reasonable agreements.

Why it matters

The deal establishes a precedent for how AI labs can navigate military contracts by embedding safety principles directly into agreements, contrasting sharply with the ongoing legal and political conflict between the Pentagon and Anthropic.