OpenAI says it shares Anthropic's 'red lines' over military AI use

Last edited Sat Feb 28, 2026, 06:50 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: NPR

By wading into the standoff between Anthropic and the Pentagon, Altman could complicate the Pentagon's efforts to replace Anthropic if it follows through on its threat to cancel the contract. OpenAI also has a Defense Department contract, along with Google, xAI, and Anthropic, but Anthropic was the first to be cleared for use on classified systems.

"I don't personally think the Pentagon should be threatening DPA against these companies," Altman told CNBC in an interview on Friday morning. He said he thinks it's important for companies to work with the military "as long as it is going to comply with legal protections" and "the few red lines" that "we share with Anthropic and that other companies also independently agree with."

"For all the differences I have with Anthropic, I mostly trust them as a company, and I think they really do care about safety, and I've been happy that they've been supporting our warfighters," Altman added. "I'm not sure where this is going to go."

In an internal note sent to staff on Thursday evening, Altman said OpenAI was seeking to negotiate a deal with the Pentagon to deploy its models in classified systems with exclusions preventing use for surveillance in the U.S. or to power autonomous weapons without human approval, according to a person familiar with the message who was not authorized to speak publicly. The Wall Street Journal first reported Altman's note to staff.

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Read more: https://www.npr.org/2026/02/27/nx-s1-5729118/anthropic-pentagon-openai-ai-weapons