OpenAI Had Banned Military Use. The Pentagon Tested Its Models Through Microsoft Anyway | WIRED

Save StorySave this storySave StorySave this storyOpenAI CEO Sam Altman is still in the hot seat this week after his company signed a deal with the US military. OpenAI employees have criticized the move, which came after Anthropic’s roughly $200 million contract with the Pentagon imploded, and asked Altman to release more information about the agreement. Altman admitted it looked “sloppy” in a social media post.While this incident has become a major news story, it may just be the latest and most public example of OpenAI creating vague policies around how the US military can access its AI.In 2023, OpenAI’s usage policy explicitly banned the military from accessing its AI models. But some OpenAI employees discovered the Pentagon had already started experimenting with Azure OpenAI, a version of OpenAI’s models offered by Microsoft, two sources familiar with the matter said. At the time, Microsoft had been contracting with the Department of Defense for decades. It was also OpenAI’s largest investor, and had broad license to commercialize the startup’s technology.That same year, OpenAI employees saw Pentagon officials walking through the company’s San Francisco offices, the sources said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity as they aren’t licensed to comment on private company matters.Some OpenAI employees were wary about associating with the Pentagon, while others were simply confused about what OpenAI’s usage policies meant. Did the policy apply to Microsoft? While source...