There seems to be some growing tension between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and employees regarding the deal with the Pentagon. In a recent all-hands meeting, Sam Altman told the company’s employees that even if you think the attack on Iran is right and Venezuela is wrong, you cannot give your opinion on it.
Controversy is arising due to this deal
AI company Anthropic was described by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as a supply chain threat to national security. The US Department of Defense had asked Anthropic to make a deal under which its AI models were asked to be used for large-scale domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. The company refused to do the deal calling it wrong and OpenAI took advantage of this opportunity and made the deal. There is a lot of controversy after this deal and Anthropic has been banned.
Sam Altman also admitted that the deal was done in a hurry
After some time, Altman himself admitted that he had made the deal in a hurry. However, there were many conditions in it. Under these conditions, the US Defense Department will not use its AI models for domestic surveillance and fully automatic weapons.
employees criticized
According to the Wall Street Journal report, in a meeting with employees, Sam Altman admitted that the move seemed opportunistic and reckless.
Let us tell you that some employees of OpenAI criticized this step of the company. Just a few days ago, several employees signed an open letter. In this they stood in solidarity with Anthropic’s ‘Red Lines’. The AI safety community had also expressed concern over this.
Sam said this in the meeting
Altman made some things clear in Tuesday’s meeting. One person speaking to CNBC said Altman told staff that the Pentagon respects OpenAI’s technology. He wants to learn where their models can be most beneficial and has agreed to allow the company to build and maintain whatever safety stack it wants. OpenAI engineers will be paired with government teams. Altman also said that I hope that we will have the best models, who will convince the government to work with us.