OpenAI Is In The Hands Of The Military

Though it was once forbidden via company policies, ChatGPT (a powerful AI content writing tool) developer OpenAI is now officially collaborating with the U.S. Defense Department.

The union comes after a policy enforcement banning militarization of the company’s software. 

Company policy once stated that OpenAI would never work with the military, but recent changes in the company’s executive structure seem to have made a difference in their goals.

It has certainly resulted in changes to the company’s longstanding ban on military applications. 

In November of last year, the company’s executive structure flipped upside down after a large investment by tech giant Microsoft.

After nearly all the board resigned from their positions, the new board initially consisted of former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor as the chairman and Microsoft as a non-voting board member. 

Microsoft’s close involvement with the business of OpenAI has to be noted. Its impact on the policies and movement of the company from here forward is bound to be affected by the driving motives of the tech giant. Microsoft joining the board is evidence of a significant power shift for OpenAI. 

After the new board was intact, the company reworked its policies to accommodate a relationship with the United States Defense Department. However, OpenAI continues to maintain its aversion to its software being used for any type of weapons development. 

Taking a closer look at OpenAI’s current Usage Policies document will reveal in section two that the company has a statement asserting that users “don’t use our service to harm yourself or others.” 

The new policy also states a clear prohibition of using the company’s AI products to “develop or use weapons.”

These changes removed the “military and warfare” prohibitions in the policies on January 10, 2024.

The newly forged relationship between OpenAI and the government is reportedly to develop tools for cybersecurity software. And there have been talks about various ways the company can work together with the Defense Department to assist in the prevention of veteran suicide. 

There has still been no clear explanation released on just how OpenAI and the U.S. Defense Department plan to work towards the reduction and prevention of veteran suicide. Oh, and did we forget to mention that Elon Musk was one of the members of the overthrown OpenAI board?

No matter the true implications of the recent movement regarding OpenAI’s mission moving forward, there are certainly a lot of zeros involved in the situation.

With big players like Microsoft, Elon Musk, and the government involved, there’s really no telling what they’re up to now. Only time will truly tell what is truly in the workings between OpenAI and the United States Defense Department.

Source: Bloomberg