Home > Industry News > Tech

Ted Lieu, Emil Michael and More Sound Off on OpenAI’s New Agreement With the Department of War

“The [DoW] just agreed to the same two conditions with OpenAI that Anthropic was asking for … I genuinely don’t understand,” the California congressman writes

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), Sam Altman
Rep. Ted Lieu (L), OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (R) (Photo credit: Getty Images)

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), Christopher Hale and others expressed frustration after the Department of War struck a new deal with OpenAI, appearing to adopt terms previously sought by the now-banned Anthropic.

“The Department of Defense just agreed to the same two conditions with OpenAI that Anthropic was asking for,” the California congressman wrote on X. “Can someone explain? I genuinely don’t understand.”

Hale, a politician and DNC delegate, shared he “just canceled ChatGPT and bought Claude Pro Max” in response to the news. He added: “One stands up for the God-given rights of the American people. The other folds to tyrants.”

Lieu and Hale weren’t alone in their confusion and outrage, though, Emil Michael, the under secretary of war for research and engineering, emerged as a vocal supporter for the deal.

ai-robots
Read Next
ByteDance Is Hollywood’s Latest AI Boogeyman | Analysis

“When it’s comes to matters of life and death for our warfighters, having a reliable and steady partner that engages in good faith makes all the difference as we enter into the AI Age,” Michael wrote on X. “Onwards [Sam Altman].”

These comments came shortly after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confirmed on X Friday that the company had reached a deal “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,” Altman continued. “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.”

Altman also noted that OpenAI “will build technical safeguards to ensure our models behave as they should, which the DoW also wanted.”

However, it didn’t take long for the aforementioned thought leaders and others to weigh in on the update, given Altman had previously said Friday morning that he shared Anthropic’s “red lines” over restricting military use of AI. (For those wondering, Anthropic’s stance prompted President Donald Trump to label Anthropic “leftwing nut jobs” on Truth Social, adding, “Therefore, I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it and will not do business with them again!”)

For a roundup of reactions to the news, keep reading.

Josh D’Amaro
Read Next
New Disney CEO Assures AI Will Not Replace Human Creativity, but It Will Be 'Embraced' | Video

Alyssa Ray

Alyssa Ray is the night news editor at TheWrap and boasts a passion for period dramas, horror films, musicals, romance novels, reality TV, pop music and theme parks. After growing up in Massachusetts, Alyssa found herself in Los Angeles through Emerson College’s internship program, where she majored in Marketing Communications. After a stint in publicity,…

Comments