The US Department of Defense has awarded a new $200 million contract to OpenAI that will see the military leverage the ChatGPT-maker’s tools for “warfighting”. The deal will see San Francisco-based OpenAI develop “prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges” across both the enterprise space and in combat situations, the DoD said. […]
The US Department of Defense has awarded a new $200 million contract to OpenAI that will see the military leverage the ChatGPT-maker’s tools for “warfighting”.
The deal will see San Francisco-based OpenAI develop “prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges” across both the enterprise space and in combat situations, the DoD said.
It is the first partnership under the AI firm’s initiative to place it at the centre of government operations. OpenAI for Government was announced earlier this week with the goal of “unlocking AI solutions that enhance the capabilities of government workers,” OpenAI said.
“OpenAI for Government consolidates our existing efforts to provide our technology to the US Government—including previously announced customers and partnerships as well as our ChatGPT Gov product—under one umbrella as we expand this work. Our established collaborations with the US National Labs, the Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA, NIH, and the Treasury will all be brought under OpenAI for Government.”
The project with the DoD will be assigned through its Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO). OpenAI said projects will range from improving how service members and their families get health care, to streamlining how they look at program and acquisition data, to supporting proactive cyber defense.
Work will be performed primarily in the National Capital Region until July 2026.
OpenAI said it will only operate within its own ethical code, although this is set by the company itself, meaning it is unclear what – if anything – would be off limits in the DoD deal.
This isn’t the first military contract the AI firm has agreed, however, following a partnership announced last year that sees it working defense tech startup Anduril Industries to develop and deploy AI solutions “for security missions”.
Microsoft war?
Big tech companies are increasingly pitching their tools to the US military, among them Meta and Peter Thiel’s Palantir.
It is OpenAI’s largest reported government contract and comes as the firm reportedly enters negotiations with investor Microsoft, with the ChatGPT firm reportedly looking for more freedom from one of its biggest backers.
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Reports claim execs from both Microsoft and OpenAI have been locked in talks surrounding OpenAI’s desire for opportunity to turn itself into a for-profit company, with Microsoft seemingly resistant to some of those goals.
A report from the Wall Street Journal claims talks have reached a crisis point, with sources saying OpenAI could turn to the US government by accusing Microsoft of anti-competitive practices.
The report claims OpenAI execs could seek a federal regulatory review of the terms of the contract between them and Microsoft, with an eye towards identifying potential antitrust violations.
Microsoft was one of OpenAI’s early backers, having invested more than $13 billion in the company since 2019. It also provides substantial cloud computing infrastructure needed to fuel OpenAI’s tools. In turn, Microsoft earns a large percentage of OpenAI’s profits until the startup repays Microsoft’s initial investments.
Under their most recent agreement, signed in 2023, Microsoft has access to all of OpenAI’s technology, including any it gets via acquisition.
The Information is reporting that OpenAI wants Microsoft to forgo its rights to future profits in exchange for a roughly 33% stake in the restructured company.
