Openai said Monday The US Department of Defense has given it a contract for up to $ 200 million to help the agency identify and build prototype systems that use its country models for administrative tasks and more.
Openai provides some examples of a possible task, such as helping service members get health, simplify data on various programs and “support proactive cyber defense.” The company also said that “all use cases must be in line with OpenAI’s use policies and guidelines.”
The DoD’s announcement used slightly more direct wording. It says, “Under this prize, the performer will develop prototype front -end AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both military and corporate domains.”
Whether this reference to war fighting applies to the weapons themselves or only other areas associated with wars, such as stationery, remains visible. Openai’s guidelines prohibit individual users from using ChatGPT or its APIs to develop or use weapons. However, Openai removed the explicit prohibitions of “military and warfare” in its services back In January, 2024.
Considering how heavily some powerful people in Silicon Valley have warned of the dangers of China’s advanced LLM models, it is not surprising that the DoD wants to use Openai for all kinds of purposes it wants. For example, Marc Andreessen, co-founder of VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, an Openai investor, appeared recently in the “Uncapped” by Jack Altman (brother of Sam Altman). Andreessen described the race between China AI and The models of the Western world as a “cold war.”
However, perhaps an equally interesting part of this ad is what it says about Openai an increasingly tighter relationship with its main investor Microsoft.
Microsoft have thousands of contracts With the federal government worth hundreds of millions of dollars. It, for decades, has implemented the strict security protocols needed for the government – especially the DoD – to use its cloud.
Openai has announced this agreement as part of its wider new “Openai for Government” program, which consolidates a number of other programs it uses to sell goods directly to government agencies, including the US National Labs, the Air Force -Research Laboratory, NASA, NIH, and the Treasury, according to the company.
But it was only in April that Microsoft has announced The DoD approved its Azure -Openai service for all classified levels. Now the DoD also goes straight to the source. From the perspective of Microsoft: Ouch.
Neither Openai nor Microsoft immediately responded to a request for comment.
