Advanced US Weapons Supplier Loses Employee as Boss Becomes Concerned

A senior official at OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has resigned over disagreement with CEO Sam Altman’s decision to provide artificial intelligence technology to the United States Department of Defence.

Futurism reported that Caitlin Kalinowski, head of the hardware and robotics division at OpenAI, announced her resignation on social media.

“This is not an easy decision. AI has an important role in national security. However, mass surveillance of US citizens without judicial oversight and lethal autonomous weapons without human authorisation are matters requiring far more discussion,” she stated on her X account.

She also expressed continued respect for Altman despite disagreeing with his decision.

“This is about principle, not about any particular person,” Kalinowski said.

Last month, OpenAI announced a deal with the Pentagon after its rival company Anthropic was removed from consideration.

The Pentagon did not renew Anthropic’s contract because the company, led by CEO Dario Amodei, refused to modify its terms and conditions. Anthropic prohibits the use of its AI technology for programmes involving mass surveillance of US citizens and for supporting autonomous weapons that could kill targets without human approval.

Not only did the contract terminate. US President Donald Trump also designated Anthropic as a company presenting “supply chain risks,” meaning it cannot be used by partners of the Pentagon.

OpenAI’s decision to immediately replace Anthropic has drawn considerable criticism. Indeed, many Americans deleted ChatGPT from their phones as a sign of protest.

Approximately 1,000 current and former employees of OpenAI and Google also signed an open letter requesting that their companies commit to rejecting Pentagon requests to use AI for mass surveillance and autonomous weapons.

Initially, Altman stated that OpenAI could be used provided it complies with applicable law. After facing public pressure, Altman subsequently acknowledged that he would discuss with the Pentagon protections against domestic surveillance activities and autonomous weapons.