'Lies, gaslighting': Dario Amodei calls OpenAI-Pentagon AI deal safety theatre, Big Tech backs Anthropic

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei claimed in an internal memo to his employees that OpenAI's deal with the Pentagon was full of lies. OpenAI had reached an agreement with the US Military hours after Anthropic's contract was terminated over disagreements on unrestricted AI use.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has slammed OpenAI’s deal with the US Department of Defense over the use of AI. In an internal memo, Amodei claimed that the statements made by the Sam Altman-led startup were full of lies. Sam Altman tried to position OpenAI as a de-escalater after the Pentagon’s fallout with Anthropic.

According to a report by The Information, Amodei described OpenAI’s characterisation of the Pentagon contract as "straight up lies," and labelled their approach to safety as "safety theatre."

OpenAI had reached an agreement with the US Department of Defense just hours after Anthropic’s contract was terminated. Though Sam Altman later admitted that his rushed deal with the Pentagon looked sloppy and opportunistic.

In the memo, Amodei claimed that the real reason OpenAI took the Pentagon deal was because the AI firm was not focused on preventing misuse of AI systems, something that Anthropic did care about. He wrote, "The main reason [OpenAI] accepted [the DoD’s deal] and we did not is that they cared about placating employees, and we actually cared about preventing abuses.”

Anthropic had previously stated that it was walking away from the deal over fears of its systems being used in domestic mass surveillance or development of autonomous weaponry. The Pentagon reportedly refused to acknowledge these safeguards and wanted to have the potential to use AI for all “lawful” purposes.

Though OpenAI has stated that it will not allow its systems to be used for such cases either. Sam Altman also shared an amended agreement a couple of days ago, emphasising on these red lines.