OpenAI Agrees To Deploy AI Models With Defense Department

Catenaa, Saturday, February 28, 2026- OpenAI has agreed to deploy its own AI models within the US Defense Department’s classified network after rival Anthropic saw its relationship with the Pentagon cease.

OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman said late Friday that he’d reached an agreement with the department that reflects the firm’s principles on prohibiting “domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems.” 

The startup also built safeguards to ensure its models behave as expected during deployment, Altman said in a post on the social media platform X.

Just hours earlier, the Pentagon had declared Anthropic a supply-chain risk. This move could have profound consequences for the company’s business and escalated a feud between the artificial intelligence startup and defense officials over safeguards on its technology. 

Less than a day after Altman posted about the deal, US President Donald Trump announced that the US had carried out airstrikes against Iran alongside Israel, saying a “massive” operation was underway to ensure Tehran does not have access to nuclear weapons.”

Anthropic, which has stipulated that its products not be used for surveillance of Americans or to carry out strikes without human involvement, meanwhile said on Friday that “no amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War will change our position.” 

The company has been thrust into the limelight in more ways than one in recent weeks: Its push to expand AI offerings for health care, finance, and legal firms has triggered selloffs in everything from software to financial services and cybersecurity stocks as investors worry that such products will disrupt those businesses.

OpenAI’s deal with the Pentagon threatens to widen the rift between the Trump administration and Anthropic, which has drawn strong support for its stance in Silicon Valley, where tech workers rallied to the company’s side and urged other major tech companies, including Amazon and Microsoft, to follow suit.