OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Says Pentagon Deal Being Amended to Exclude ChatGPT Use by Intelligence Agencies

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said the company is revising its controversial deal with the US Department of War (DoW) to spell out where its AI can and cannot be used.

In a post on X, Altman said OpenAI has “been working with the DoW (Department of War) to make some additions in our agreement to make our principles very clear.” According to him, one of those additions explicitly states that the Pentagon has affirmed OpenAI’s services will not be used by US intelligence agencies such as the National Security Agency (NSA). Any future use by those agencies, Altman noted, would require a separate modification to the contract.

The clarification comes days after OpenAI disclosed that it had signed a deal to deploy its technology on the Defence Department’s classified network, a move that triggered fresh scrutiny over how closely frontier AI labs should work with the military and security establishment. OpenAI is already facing the brunt for siding with the Trump government amid the Israel-Iran conflict, especially when its rival Anthropic publicly rejected the same proposal. Internet users took to X to claim they have deleted ChatGPT and installed Claude AI to denounce the use of AI in wars.

Altman’s latest comments appear aimed at drawing a line between defence-related use, such as tools running on secure government systems, and direct intelligence or surveillance applications. However, by leaving the door open to a future “follow‑on modification,” OpenAI is also acknowledging that the boundaries around military and intelligence use of AI remain fluid, and will likely keep evolving as both regulators and AI providers test where they are willing to draw those lines.

Read more: OpenAI’s Pentagon Deal Sparks Backlash as ‘Cancel ChatGPT’ Trends, Users Turn to Anthropic’s Claude