OpenAI revises Pentagon contract to curb mass surveillance, but critics warn of major loopholes

[DragonSlayer101]

The big picture: OpenAI has backtracked on its controversial agreement with the Pentagon following significant backlash from users and privacy advocates. On Monday, CEO Sam Altman acknowledged that the deal "looked opportunistic and sloppy" and promised additional safeguards to prevent government use of the technology for surveillance of US citizens.

On X, Altman acknowledged that OpenAI should have taken more time to address the "super complex" issues surrounding privacy and data security before rushing to finalize the agreement with the Pentagon. He added that the company learned a valuable lesson from the controversy, one that will help guide better decision-making when handling higher-stakes partnerships in the future.

Here is re-post of an internal post:

We have been working with the DoW to make some additions in our agreement to make our principles very clear.

1. We are going to amend our deal to add this language, in addition to everything else:

"• Consistent with applicable laws,…

– Sam Altman (@sama) March 3, 2026

Detailing the revisions, Sam Altman said the agreement has been amended to include clauses prohibiting the government from using the company's AI software to "deliberately" track, surveil, or monitor US citizens. He emphasized that the updated deal complies with all applicable federal laws, including the Fourth Amendment, the National Security Act of 1947, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.

Despite reworking the contract to meet legal requirements, Altman declined to apologize, maintaining that the original agreement did not violate the Constitution. He said he would rather go to jail than follow an unconstitutional order, and insisted he would never have signed the deal if it had been unlawful.

Social media users, however, are skeptical. Critics argued that the inclusion of the word "deliberate" leaves loopholes that could allow the technology to be misused. Political researcher Tyson Brody noted that the language may permit the government to collect private data on US citizens under the guise of "incidental collection," potentially rendering such practices legally permissible.

Extremely careful and concerning language. Hard not to read as admitting to an AI dragnet.

"intentionally" and "deliberate" - so Americans *will* be swept up in this data, but the government can claim "incidental collection" and thus legal. See the NSA and section 702. https://t.co/Tseita4D8m

– tyson brody (@tysonbrody) March 3, 2026

OpenAI announced its agreement with the Department of Defense last week after Donald Trump terminated the contract with Anthropic following the company's refusal to comply with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's request to remove safeguards restricting the use of its AI technology for mass domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons.

Critics say OpenAI secured the contract after agreeing to Hegseth's demands, which were described by opponents as overly strict and ethically concerning. Following the amendment of the agreement to incorporate the so-called safeguards, activists argued that the revised language still permits "unintentional" mass surveillance and large-scale data collection. They also contend that the policy does not adequately address risks associated with AI-powered autonomous weapons systems.

Permalink to story:

OpenAI revises Pentagon contract to curb mass surveillance, but critics warn of major loopholes

 

[NumberNine]

Sam is behaving as if America isn't currently using the constitution as toilet paper.

 

[RudyBob]

Small beans compared to the amount of info you dump out gladly about yourself

 

[Endymio]

Sam is behaving as if America isn't currently using the constitution as toilet paper.

Fun fact: it is President Obama who holds the record for most unconstitutional acts, as judged by the US Supreme Court: more than 110 adverse rulings, including 44 by unanimous 9-0 rulings -- even his own appointed justices slapped him down. That's more than Reagan, both Bushes, Clinton, and Trump all combined.

 

[Hexic]

Giant nothing-burger.

Sam, these things aren’t “super complex” as much as you got caught with your pants down, and now you’re attempting to word-salad your way out of it.

Just say nothing has changed, you’ve put in artificially created guardrails you’ll ignore anyways, and move on.

It’s an insult to general intelligence to say anything else.

 

[Burty117]

Fun fact: it is President Obama who holds the record for most unconstitutional acts, as judged by the US Supreme Court: more than 110 adverse rulings, including 44 by unanimous 9-0 rulings -- even his own appointed justices slapped him down. That's more than Reagan, both Bushes, Clinton, and Trump all combined.

Didn’t he actually try to do stuff though? Health Care, gun control, immigration control.

If the UK is any kind of blue print, no politician here has changed anything fundamental since Thatcher in the 70’s.

 

[AlexIL]

A fox guarding a chicken. Sure everyone believes in it’s best of intentions.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

He was fine with selling his soul until it helped Claude past ChatGPT on the app store THEN it was worth better PR on the soul selling.

 

[yRaz]

Who didn't see this coming? All these AI companies are bleeding capital, they'll do just about anything to not default on their loans now that banks are limiting their access to capital.

 

[Vanderlinde]

Goverments wet dream, waking up and having various cases on your desk based on whatever argument AI could have found.

 

[Endymio]

Who didn't see this coming? All these AI companies are bleeding capital, they'll do just about anything to not default on their loans now that banks are limiting their access to capital.

"All these AI companies" are primarily just one: OpenAI ... a firm run by a nitwit more interested in marketing a product than he is in creating a product worth marketing. OTOH, I'm invested in three different AI firms, all of which are already turning large profits, and two of the three which have gross margins above 50% ... an insanely high level.

 

[wiyosaya]

Sounds about right for the current administration: You can do it so long as you have no f'ing clue you're doing it.

Good luck to Altman holding them to that, however, I doubt he ever will. Altman only GAS about the $$$$ he is pocketing.

Its a bogus clause if I ever heard one.

Fun fact: it is President Obama who holds the record for most unconstitutional acts, as judged by the US Supreme Court: more than 110 adverse rulings, including 44 by unanimous 9-0 rulings -- even his own appointed justices slapped him down. That's more than Reagan, both Bushes, Clinton, and Trump all combined.

So that makes it OK for this administration. Excellent reasoning!

 

[Endymio]

So that makes it OK for this administration. Excellent reasoning!

No, but it does painfully expose the hypocrisy of the Leftists who cheered on Obama's tidal wave of unconstitutional acts, then suddenly pretended to grow a moral conscience.

In any case, 99% of what you claim are "unconstitutional acts" are clearly legal, which explains why Trump is 17 for 19 in recent Supreme Court rulings. It might help to actually read that piece of paper at some point.

 

[Au Contraire]

"OpenAI revises Pentagon contract"

IIRC, contracts cannot be amended unilaterally.

 

[Hexic]

"OpenAI revises Pentagon contract"

IIRC, contracts cannot be amended unilaterally.

Completely depends on the government contract. I’ve seen some contracts take some very odd turns mid flight in the A&D field.

It’s not common, for sure, but it’s not impossible.

 

[yRaz]

"All these AI companies" are primarily just one: OpenAI ... a firm run by a nitwit more interested in marketing a product than he is in creating a product worth marketing. OTOH, I'm invested in three different AI firms, all of which are already turning large profits, and two of the three which have gross margins above 50% ... an insanely high level.

and when they rent space in a datacenter to train their model it is being subsidized by all of the people who own datacenters trying to undercut everyone right now. Once the model is made, it's fairly cheap to run. While I believe that SOME AI companies are profitable and have great products(see AlphaFold), if they rely on processing power that are artificially cheap then their profit margins need adjusted to account for the fact that they will have to pay more in the future.

I hope your investments work out for you, but I don't think people really see the branching effect that AI has and how that branching is being heavily subsidized with debt by a few large players at the top.

 

[The Talking Tech]

Trump and his administration crooks are beyond outrageous and sickening

People really have to do their best to vote Democratic in the midterms elections to get him out out of office or at the very least put a leash on him.