Sam Altman says OpenAI amended its DOD contract to ensure “the AI system shall not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of US persons and nationals”

Sam Altman says company is working with defence department on provisions covering mass surveillance

Financial Times 2026-03-03 George Hammond

Discussion

@sama Sam Altman on x
Here is re-post of an internal post: We have been working with the DoW to make some additions in our agreement to make our principles very clear. 1. We are going to amend our deal to add this language, in addition to everything else...
@shakeelhashim Shakeel on x
“this new language includes both limits related to the use of commercially available information for targeted surveillance and related to use by Title 50 IC community components” Still unclear what this means for surveillance work done until Title 10
@polynoamial Noam Brown on x
tl;dr: @OpenAI will not be deploying to the NSA or other DoW intelligence agencies for now, so that there's time to address potential surveillance loopholes through the democratic process. Over the weekend it became clear that the original language in the OpenAI / DoW agreement
@markvalorian Mark Valorian on x
This is legitimately the worst PR campaign I have ever seen in my life. This whole thing started 2 days ago and somehow I feel like I know less than I did last week. We have Altman posting more words than he's ever posted in his life the last 2 days but somehow still saying
@j_asminewang Jasmine Wang on x
I would really appreciate if independent legal counsel could redteam this contract modification language
@zerohedge @zerohedge on x
Why? The NSA wouldn't, gasp, be intentionally surveilling US persons? [image]
@steventdennis Steven Dennis on x
Backlash appears to be leading to some changes; many Democrats I spoke to today are determined to fight the Trump admin order to bar Anthropic from federal contracts and all commercial work with Pentagon contractors. Wyden told me he will pull out “all the stops” and thinks
@artemisconsort Hunter Ash on x
The fact that the Department of War agreed to this contract affirms my view: the issue with Anthropic was not policy, it was about who decides the exception. This contract entirely cashes itself out in US law, which means if there's any dispute then the normal US legal process
@bonegpt Bone on x
best business advice I ever got: you can be greedy or you can be sloppy, never both.
@steventdennis Steven Dennis on x
@UnderSecretaryF ... Question: Why, given continued strong opposition from OpenAI and others, is the administration pressing the sweeping SCR designation for all commercial applications of Anthropic's AI with anyone who does business with the Pentagon?
@skyesharkie @skyesharkie on x
""• Consistent with applicable laws, including the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, National Security Act of 1947, FISA Act of 1978, the AI system shall not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of U.S. persons and nationals." This means it WILL be
@soumitrashukla9 Soumitra Shukla on x
I'm very impressed by OpenAI and especially @sama for having an open dialogue on their recent negotiations. Anyone who has worked in large organizations knows this type of engagement from the very top is rare as most orgs are in “protect yourself” mode from top to bottom.
@scaling01 @scaling01 on x
so that was just a blatant lie: “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
@chris_j_paxton Chris Paxton on x
I am really glad they changed this, although now I'm deeply confused about what's actually going on with Anthropic...
@hamandcheese Samuel Hammond on x
Noam's getting involved. Let's find out how good the pentagon is at Diplomacy
@deredleritt3r Prinz on x
I am very pleased with this language (plus confirmation that the contract won't apply to the NSA). [image]
@tenobrus @tenobrus on x
i wish i felt i could trust sam altman. unfortunately as of now, reading posts like feels like incredibly thinly veiled manipulation and frame control, little “admissions” and “i would go to jail for this” would love if any current OAI employees could explain their trust.
@themidasproj @themidasproj on x
Each of OpenAI's tweets about this situation seems to raise more questions than it answers: - First, they said they had bright red lines — the exact same as Anthropic's. - Then, facing scrutiny, they said the “all lawful purposes” clause was the protection (despite widespread
@krishnanrohit Rohit on x
The most impressive part of this might be the speed with which they got the dow agree to the changes and add clarifications. Some of us have been talking about iterative deployment as the only way for a few years, sometimes being made fun of, but it's good to see it working in
@therealadamg @therealadamg on x
Update from @sama on @OpenAI's agreement with the DoW. I've been super impressed seeing this come together.
@tysonbrody Tyson Brody on x
Extremely careful and concerning language. Hard not to read as admitting to an AI dragnet. “intentionally” and “deliberate” - so Americans *will* be swept up in this data, but the government can claim “incidental collection” and thus legal. See the NSA and section 702.
@thezvi Zvi Mowshowitz on x
This amendment helps, especially closing the commercial broker loophole and ruling out the intelligence agencies explicitly. I note ‘U.S. persons or nationals’ does not include foreign nationals in the US and would like to see this include immigrants. I also appreciate that we
@tszzl Roon on x
im sure everyone will be very fair and give this the credit it deserves and publicly retract their previous statements and apply the appropriate burden of evidence
@ericbahn Eric Bahn on x
I feel like @sama needs to hire @lulumeservey ASAP. This brand damage to OpenAI is clearly being felt. While this wall of text is thoughtfully crafted (with AI), it reads more like desperation and panic. @OpenAI, some sort of pithy response that feels human would help here.
@bonegpt Bone on x
aren't everybody's chatgpt conversations stored somewhere and going to be part of the public record bc of the NYT lawsuit? what does this nigga mean he isn't building a mass surveillance machine? what do you call a giant leakable archive of everyone's deepest thoughts?
@katiemiller Katie Miller on x
This is what woke AI looks like — it's evident he's twisting himself in a knot to pacify his liberal employees. Do you want San Francisco leftists programming the AI your kids use?
@mckbrando Brandon McKinzie on x
It has been super reassuring to see all the open dialogue on Slack the last few days. I have a lot of respect for Sam's ability to be inundated with critical feedback, listen to that feedback, and work hard to make things right. Happy to work at OpenAI.
@charliebul58993 Charlie Bullock on x
Initial takes: 1. This seems like a significant improvement over the previous language with respect to surveillance, and I'm glad to see it. 2. It does not address autonomous weapons concerns, nor does it claim to. 3. It's hard to say anything definite without seeing the
@undersecretaryf @undersecretaryf on x
As @sama notes, the OpenAI - @DeptofWar contract now includes critical new language accomplishing two mutual and related goals (memorializing limits on domestic surveillance while upholding democratic and sovereign control over the use of integrated systems). - Most
@markvalorian Mark Valorian on x
IMO the only way you regain any trust at this point is to release the contract document itself. I trust these statements about as much as I trust personal assurances from a used car salesman. You guys completely torched your brand and integrity on this. I hope it was worth it.
@creatine_cycle Atlas on x
just one more post bro. just one more post and we'll sway public opinion. just one more post. bro please just post more. one more post and we got it. that thing in the company slack? post it bro it will be sick. just one more post and the singularity is ours
@corsaren @corsaren on x
Worth asking yourself if you would have predicted this outcome given how you were modeling Sam/OpenAIs motives and behaviors over the last couple days A lot of people seemed to think that the weak parts of the og contract language were intentional and duplicitous
@arozenshtein Alan Rozenshtein on x
Ok but if the Pentagon agrees to this then why is Anthropic a supply chain risk and OpenAI isn't?!
@alexandermccoy4 Alexander McCoy on x
These statements should be put in the context that @OpenAI, its founders, and its investors are RIGHT NOW investing more than a hundred million dollars into Super PACs with the explicit goal of PREVENTING LEGISLATION from happening! “I know that legislation can sometimes be
@shakeelhashim Shakeel on x
In the last few days, OpenAI and its executives have claimed that its DoW deal prevents its models being used for mass domestic surveillance. As I write in a lengthy explainer for @ReadTransformer today, that appears to be misleading at best. [image]
@shakeelhashim Shakeel on x
A welcome update! Also confirms that OpenAI's statements on what the original deal did were not accurate.
@bindureddy Bindu Reddy on x
Great to see OpenAI clarify and explicitly re-write the terms of their government deal! They explicitly ban their AI from being used for mass surveillance and by intelligence service Good for them 👏👏
@obrien Chris O'Brien on x
@Jessicalessin Emil Michael: A study in moral bankruptcy. [image]
@buccocapital @buccocapital on x
Strategic miscalculations from OpenAI starting to add up: 1. Taking on Google and Apple and Meta at the same time 2. Public crash out on prominent shareholder's podcast 3. DoW contract
@jessicalessin Jessica Lessin on x
For people just getting to know the Department of War's Emil Michael there are two big things you need to know about his time as the no 2 to Kalanick at Uber. 1/ he was the architect of Uber's war chest. In this respect he was the sam altman before sam altman, scouring the
@natseckatrina @natseckatrina on x
@ShakeelHashim @ReadTransformer New language reinforces that domestic surveillance is disallowed under this agreement, including involving commercially acquired information. See @sama 's post.
@mattzeitlin Matthew Zeitlin on x
is there any software product that sells to the government that users like as much as claude?
@andrewcurran_ Andrew Curran on x
Claude has fans in DHHS. [image]
@bendreyfuss Ben Dreyfuss on x
Claude is so much better than ChatGPT. Jesus Christ lol. I didn't join it because of some hippie dippy nonsense about pentagon contracts. I joined it for the normal reason (people on twitter said it was good). And damn howdy it sure is better than ChatGPT
@jessicalessin Jessica Lessin on x
2/ he was notorious as the exemplar of Uber's aggressive culture. Someone under him was accused of accessing a rape victim's confidential medical records (Uber settled) and he ultimately resigned around the same time as Kalanick due to the company's myriad scandals.
@kevincollier Kevin Collier on bluesky
Sam Altman just said he has tweaked his deal with the Pentagon and wrote a list of things he says are part of it, and he chose to include this really great line: — “One thing I think I did wrong: we shouldn't have rushed to get this out on Friday.”
@edzitron.com Ed Zitron on bluesky
prohibits ‘deliberate’ tracking and surveillance, and “intentionally” using them for domestic surveillance. very easy to get around! [embedded post]
r/ChatGPT r on reddit
Sam Issues follow up on DOW Deal
@jeffrsebo Jeff Sebo on x
I appreciate this statement of values! But noticeably missing is coordination with other companies around shared standards, to prevent a situation where one company is under fire for maintaining red lines and another undermines their position by swooping in and accepting less.
@_nathancalvin Nathan Calvin on x
Does OpenAI's massive superpac Leading the Future help “our democratic process catch up?” Or does it brutally attack politicians like Alex Bores who try to help government take these risks seriously? [image]
@andrewschmidtfc Schmidt on x
“...we need to make sure individuals get increasing power.” IMO: this is the most important thing we could be doing, if we take our mission seriously. But it's very tricky! Key pieces: open source small-but-smart models, encryption. I'll be pushing for this, as best I can.
@alexandermccoy4 Alexander McCoy on x
“The democratic process must stay in control, and we must democratize AI. OpenAI should not decide the fate of the world; no private company should... ...and that's why our company, execs, and investors are flooding a hundred million dollars into Super PACs to stop AI from being
@mihaimaruseac Mihai Maruseac on x
“In particular, the key element required for democracy, such as protection of privacy, must be defended by all of society” Happy to say that I've been working on this for the past month, with a great team
@prietschka Paul Rietschka on bluesky
The way “democratize” gets misused constantly is really something. [embedded post]
@krave Kushal Dave on bluesky
this is the same ignorant shit jack dorsey was spouting before selling elon his megaphone [embedded post]
@sama Sam Altman on x
[Thread] In an AMA, Sam Altman says DOD blacklisting Anthropic sets an “extremely scary precedent”, OpenAI rushed its deal to “de-escalate things”, and more
@wittywebhandle Blaise Ulysse Bernard Collins on bluesky
How many times can your $800B company say “Oopsie Doodle, we really muffed that one, huh?” before any investors begin to question the value proposition of AT THE VERY LEAST Sam Altman as a figure.
r/news r on reddit
OpenAI's Altman admits defense deal ‘looked opportunistic and sloppy’ amid backlash
r/technology r on reddit
OpenAI's Altman admits defense deal was ‘opportunistic and sloppy’ amid backlash
r/politics r on reddit
OpenAI's Altman admits defense deal ‘looked opportunistic and sloppy’ amid backlash
@bog_beef @bog_beef on x
Reminding myself to ask Fredo to legally interpret “U.S. persons or nationals” on the show tonight. I'd have just put “US Citizens” there, myself.
@thezvi Zvi Mowshowitz on x
I call upon DoW to publicly give @AnthropicAI permission to discuss details of their contracts and proposals at a similar detail level to what @sama was given permission to discuss. Then we can compare and contrast properly. Given situation they clearly need permission first.
@nathanpmyoung Nathan on x
When someone has behaved dishonestly so many times it's hard to trust them again.
@markessien Mark Essien on x
If you use ChatGPT and are not American, then ChatGPT can be used to attack you militarily. Use at your own risk. ChatGPT is a U.S military asset now - they only have protections for U.S citizens.
@uk_daniel_card @uk_daniel_card on x
ChatGPT: Cancelled.
@provisionalidea James Rosen-Birch on x
one of the things that's always struck me about Sam is the way he uses legal documents as forms of marketing rather than the foundational bones of governance and conflict resolution. we saw it with OAI's corporate structure (which blew up, briefly sacked him, and pissed off
@sasurobert Robert Sasu on x
Quite a think to watch about government using AI for different purposes and all the rave around it. On the one hand, it is great that the government actually acknowledges this technology, the threat of it, starts to use it, starts to understand it, and hopefully because of it,
@sarahshoker Sarah Shoker on x
Are these all the changes that you're making and sharing or are more forthcoming? e.g. I see no added clarity on “no...direct[ing] autonomous weapons.” The word “direct” is vague and does not seemingly prohibit LLMs from being integrated into a kill chain.
@stephenlcasper Cas on x
I don't see this as a meaningful improvement to the contract. I highly doubt that the DoW intends to interpret this language as providing any more restrictions than what applicable law already provides. There still seem to be some big shortcomings/loopholes: - No updates on
@hackingbutlegal Jackie Singh on x
“because a lot of people have asked, if I received what I believed was an unconstitutional order, of course I would rather go to jail than follow it” Is he a soldier, or a CEO? Who gives “orders” to Sam Altman? 🤔
@shashj Shashank Joshi on x
The fundamental point is that OpenAI has agreed to all lawful use, whereas Anthropic sought constraints that went beyond lawful use, on the basis that current law & policy was not an adequate safeguard.
@racebannon Race Bannon on bluesky
“The problem with telling everyone what they want to hear is that eventually reality catches up with you. The people who will live under AI-powered surveillance, and the people in the flight path of AI-assisted drone swarms...” — www.platformer.news/openai-penta...
r/BetterOffline r on reddit
The flip-flop is crazy: defense deal was “opportunistic & sloppy” says Scam Altman
@pmarca Marc Andreessen on x
Overheard in Silicon Valley: “Every single person who was in favor of government control of AI, is now opposed to government control of AI.”
r/politics r on reddit
ChatGPT uninstalls surged by 295% after DoD deal
@druce.ai @druce.ai on bluesky
OpenAI amended its Pentagon contract to prohibit intentional domestic surveillance or tracking of U.S. persons, bar monitoring using commercially acquired personal data, and received Pentagon assurance the technology will not be used by defense intelligence agencies, including th…
@langdongrant Langdon Grant on bluesky
LMFAO, never seen someone go completely washed so quickly. 🤣🤣🤣 — “OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Monday that the company 'shouldn't have rushed' its recent deal with the U.S. Department of Defense and outlined revisions to the agreement.” — www.cnbc.com/2026/03/03/o... …
@garymarcus Gary Marcus on x
How dumb does Altman think we are?
@haydenfield Hayden Field on x
Sam Altman says he plans to update OpenAI's Pentagon agreement with 2 new sentences to address people's concerns about mass domestic surveillance, though the new language still included the phrase “consistent with applicable laws.”
@karlbode.com Karl Bode on bluesky
Sam pretends to inhabit this weird liminal space where he's both responsible for a problem and yet somehow an objective, ethical critic — very have your cake and eat it too kind of shit
@linh.social Linh Pham on bluesky
“Opportunistic and sloppy” can also describe the whole GenAI and AI bubble in general. — #NoAI
@metacurity.com Cynthia Brumfield on bluesky
Oh no! Sam Altman says he experienced some pain in moving in for the kill on Anthropic's deal with the Pentagon so quickly. [embedded post]
@scriban @scriban on bluesky
Ah, yes. The very serious “brand consequences.” [embedded post]
@sama Sam Altman on x
Sam Altman says that “the democratic process must stay in control, and we must democratize AI” and that no private company should decide the fate of the world
r/UnderReportedNews r on reddit
OpenAI amends Pentagon deal as Sam Altman admits it looks ‘sloppy’
@berber_jin1 Berber Jin on x
altman also said in the all hands that OAI was looking at a contract to deploy on “all nato classified networks” more in our second take here: https://www.wsj.com/...

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Sam Altman says OpenAI amended its DOD contract to ensure “the AI system shall not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of US persons and nationals”

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