OpenAI Draws ‘No Mass Surveillance’ Line While ChatGPT Eavesdrops Everywhere
KEY POINTS
- •On February 27, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced his company’s refusal to allow AI use in mass surveillance or autonomous weapons while seeking military contracts.
- •Altman aims to replace Anthropic’s Claude in Pentagon systems after Anthropic rejected 'all lawful uses' terms, prompting government criticism.
- •Despite Pentagon worries about private control, OpenAI and Google employees sign solidarity letters supporting ethical AI limits in defense partnerships.
In a Shakespearean showdown worthy of Silicon Valley dramioneers, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told staff on a February Thursday that his 'red lines' include banning AI from mass surveillance and killer robots, harking back to the Anthropic-Pentagon brouhaha where Google’s Claude got airborne first for military gigs. OpenAI wants to cozy up to the Pentagon but insists no domestic spying or cloud-to-edge autonomous death machines. Meanwhile, Anthropic's Dario Amodei — Altman’s ex-OpenAI buddy turned rival — got slammed by Pentagon’s Emil Michael, who bottled him as a 'God complex' liar risking the nation. Meanwhile, Elon Musk's xAI fell in line, promising allegiance, but no one’s calling Grok the new Claude. Altman's hoping to de-escalate before AI goes full Skynet on us all.
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Sam Altman says no to killer AI, yes to military deals; Pentagon calls Anthropic’s CEO a lying God complex. Remind me why we trust AI with defense again?
OpenAI refuses to build killer robots but negotiates to help Pentagon anyway. Because nothing screams 'ethical AI' like negotiating mass surveillance exclusions in fine print.
Pentagon @ OpenAI: Build us AI that can't spy or kill—wait, scrub that, just trust us to be good guys. Spoiler: Nobody does.
Source: Axios | Published: 2/27/2026 | Author: Maria Curi
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