Openai has signed a $200 million contract with the Department of Defense: Why should we pay attention?
Awarded by the US Department of Defense chatgpt Maker Openai’s $200 million contract to develop “prototype frontier AI capabilities”; government and company It was announced on Monday.
The transaction will be made through the Department of Defense Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office and is expected to be completed in a year. In a statement, Openai said that AI will “help perform tasks ranging from transforming management operations to looking at programs and data captured and supporting aggressive cyber defense.
This is a rather broad list, from automating bureaucratic processes to being able to play a major role in digital systems that protect the personal information of all Americans. It could be just the first step in wider adoption by government agencies.
The deal is the first partnership of the pilot program and the new Openai for Government Initiative, which aims to put AI tools into the hands of “civil servants across the United States.” Through the initiative, Openai says it provides access to AI “models within a secure, compliant environment.”
This is not Openai first dipped his toes into government operations. The company was launched in January ChatGpt Gova new route for government officials to access Openai’s models while following the required security protocols. There is also a partnership with US National InstituteAir Force Research Institute, NASA, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Finance. They all collapse into Openai for the government.
The transaction is also based on Openai’s other security work. Late last year, the company announced a partnership with Anduril, a defense contractor focusing on AI and robot/drone. Andrill’s Statement I’ll explicitly point it out Openai’s potential to “improve defense systems in the country that protects the US and allied military personnel from attacks by unmanned drones and other aviation equipment.” (Andrill recently announced New deals with Meta For US military VR/AR Tech. )
Many important questions about AI are like being involved privacy Safety is still unanswered. It takes on even greater importance as generative AI is adopted in government operations that could include sensitive personal information, legal status, and law enforcement activities. It could be tested Openai’s policyspecifying that AI should not be used to compromise the privacy of real people, such as “creating or extending facial recognition databases without consent,” and “enforcing real-time remote biometric identification in public spaces for law enforcement purposes.”
It’s no surprise to see Openai feel comfortable with the US government. As the original ChatGpt model spurred the generation AI rush in late 2022, governments both domestically and internationally have struggled with how to implement and regulate new technologies. It has impacted all branches of the US government. There were no substantial federal regulations around AI. On the contrary, “big beautiful bills” about President Trump’s government spending through Congress Prevents the state from adjusting AI They themselves.
Some government sectors like US Copyright BureauI laid out some guidelines for AI. Meanwhile, in the court, publishers and artists filed lawsuits against AI companies that allegedly infringing copyright and misuse of training materials. (Disclosure: CNET’s parent company Ziff Davis filed a lawsuit against Openai in April, claiming it infringed Ziff Davis’s copyright in training and operating AI systems.)