OpenAI Amends Pentagon Deal After User Exodus and Resignations

Following a February 27 agreement to deploy AI on classified networks for the United States Department of Defense, OpenAI Inc. faced a massive user exodus and internal turmoil. The deal sparked a 295% surge in ChatGPT uninstalls and the #QuitGPT campaign, with 1.5 million users pledging to delete the app. In response, CEO Sam Altman admitted the rollout was "opportunistic and sloppy," subsequently amending the contract to explicitly prohibit domestic surveillance of U.S. persons and bar use by the National Security Agency without separate modifications.

The controversy was intensified by the government's treatment of rival firm Anthropic PBC. After Anthropic refused to waive safeguards against autonomous weapons and mass surveillance, President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to stop using its products, and Secretary Pete Hegseth designated the company a "supply-chain risk." This led to a surge in downloads for Anthropic's Claude app, which briefly became the top free app in the U.S. App Store.

Internal friction at OpenAI Inc. culminated in the resignation of Caitlin Kalinowski, the head of robotics and hardware, who cited a lack of deliberation regarding lethal autonomy and judicial oversight. Despite these departures and public backlash, Altman defended the partnership as a "complex, but right decision" and indicated that OpenAI Inc. is exploring similar deployments with NATO. Meanwhile, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei dismissed OpenAI's safeguards as "safety theater" and "straight up lies," though he later resumed negotiations with the Pentagon.