OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged that his company mishandled the rollout of the recently announced agreement with the US War Department, calling the announcement “opportunistic and sloppy” after a sharp backlash from users.
In a series of posts on X Monday, Altman said the artificial intelligence developer moved too quickly in formalizing the deal and failed to adequately explain the complexity of the issues involved. “One thing I think I did wrong: we shouldn’t have rushed to get this out on Friday,” he wrote.
The contract, announced Friday, allows the company’s technology to be deployed on secret military networks.
Within 24 hours, ChatGPT takedowns in the US rose 295%, according to Sensor Tower data cited by TechCrunch. A viral campaign to cancel the chatbot saw a 775% increase in one-star app store reviews.
Claude, the competing assistant developed by Anthropic, rose to the top of Apple’s US download rankings, according to Appfigures.
Altman said the company is revising its agreement to include explicit language prohibiting domestic surveillance of U.S. persons, citing constitutional and national security statutes. The updated terms prohibit the intentional tracking or monitoring of Americans, including through commercially obtained personal data.
He added that the Defense Department confirmed that its services would not be used by intelligence agencies such as the NSA without a separate contract change.
In a follow-up post, Altman emphasized that AI governance must remain subject to democratic oversight and that no private company should determine the trajectory of society. He said the company plans to work with governments while protecting civil liberties.
The company plans to hold an all-hands meeting to address employee concerns, Altman said, describing the episode as one of the first major decisions related to direct government integration that the organization has faced.
Revelation: This article was edited by Estefano Gomez. For more information about how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.