OpenAI Confirms US Military Will Surveil Foreigners Using Its AI

The times when ChatGPT could simply be viewed as a useful helper in everyday life or work are definitively over. Because following the disclosure of OpenAI’s deal with the US Department of Defense, concerns have grown that the manufacturer’s AI models could also be used for surveillance of people. Although OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that the contract with the Pentagon would be improved with regard to excluding, for example, the NSA from using it.

However, the restrictions on AI use by US authorities only affect US citizens—the discussion is always about “domestic surveillance.” Conversely, this means that the restrictions for the Pentagon and others do not apply abroad. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has now commented on this and confirmed that the US military “is going to do some amount of surveillance on foreigners.” It is not his role to decide how this should be assessed, according to Altman.

Here is the direct quote from X:

“Thinking through non-domestic surveillance. I have accepted that the US military is going to do some amount of surveillance on foreigners, and I know foreign governments try to do it to us, but I still don’t like it. I think it is very important that society thinks through the consequences of this; perhaps the single principle I care most about for AI is that it is democratized, and I can see surveillance making that worse. On the other hand, I also respect the democratic process. I don’t think this is up to me to decide.”

OpenAI to retroactively exclude NSA from use

Many Americans were recently disturbed by the Pentagon deal—it went so far that there was migration away from ChatGPT, while competitor Anthropic (which declined the Pentagon deal) recorded strong gains in user numbers. Altman described the quick deal that OpenAI concluded with the US Department of Defense last Friday instead of Anthropic as “opportunistic and sloppy.” They would make improvements.

OpenAI will expand the contract with explicit protective provisions that apply exclusively to US citizens. The new wording stipulates that the AI system may not be used for domestic surveillance of US persons and nationals. This applies in accordance with the Fourth Amendment, the National Security Act of 1947, and the FISA Act of 1978.

According to Altman, particularly noteworthy is the clarification regarding commercially acquired data. The Department of Defense understands the restriction to mean that it prohibits the intentional pursuit, surveillance, or observation of US persons, including through the acquisition or use of commercially acquired personal or identifiable information.