Sam Altman's OpenAI reaches deal with Pentagon amid Trump's feud with Anthropic

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said ⁠on Friday it ⁠has reached ‌an ​agreement with the US Department of ​War ⁠to deploy its AI models on classified ⁠cloud ‌networks.

"In all of our ‌interactions, ⁠the DoW displayed a ‌deep respect ‌for safety and ‌a ‌desire to partner to achieve the ⁠best possible ⁠outcome," Altman said in a post on X.

The move came at a time when weeks-long feud between the Pentagon and OpenAI's rival Anthropic, over concerns about how the ​military could use AI at ⁠war, led to US President Donald Trump blacklisting the San Francisco based startup.

Altman said that OpenAI will build technical safeguards to ensure its models "behave as they should, which the DoW also wanted." "We will deploy FDEs to help with our models and to ensure their safety, we will deploy on cloud networks only."

"We are asking the DoW to offer these same terms to all AI companies, which in our opinion we think everyone should be willing to accept. We have expressed our strong desire to see things de-escalate away from legal and governmental actions and towards reasonable agreements," he wrote in the post.

Earlier, Trump ⁠said he was directing every federal agency to immediately cease work with artificial intelligence lab Anthropic, adding ⁠there would be a six-month phaseout for the Defense Department and other agencies that ‌use the company's products.

"I am directing EVERY ​Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again!" Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

(With Reuters inputs)