OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that the company has reached a landmark agreement with the U.S. Department of War (the rebranded Pentagon) to deploy its AI models within the military’s classified networks.
The deal was finalized just hours after President Trump ordered a government-wide ban on rival firm Anthropic, following a high-stakes standoff over AI safety “red lines.”
The Deal: “Frontier AI” with Safeguards
While the agreement brings OpenAI’s most advanced models into the heart of U.S. national security infrastructure, Sam Altman emphasized that the company did not compromise on its core safety principles.
- Classified Deployment: OpenAI will deploy its models on secure, classified cloud networks to support “every lawful purpose” in defense of the Republic.
- Technical Safeguards: The contract explicitly includes “technical and operational controls” to ensure the models behave within agreed-upon boundaries.
- Human-in-the-Loop: A key pillar of the deal is a requirement that humans remain accountable for all decisions involving the use of force.
- Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs): OpenAI will send specialized engineers to work directly within the Department of War to oversee model performance and safety.
Comparison: OpenAI vs. Anthropic
The OpenAI deal is seen as a strategic “de-escalation” compared to the adversarial collapse of the government’s relationship with Anthropic.
| Feature | OpenAI Agreement (Feb 2026) | Anthropic Stance (The “Ban” Trigger) |
| Mass Surveillance | Prohibited: Contract includes explicit bans on domestic mass surveillance. | Prohibited: Refused to remove guardrails, leading to the “Supply Chain Risk” label. |
| Autonomous Weapons | Restricted: Requires human responsibility for the use of force. | Restricted: Refused to enable use in “fully autonomous” kill chains. |
| Relationship | Partnered: Altman praised the DoW’s “deep respect for safety.” | Adversarial: Designated a “Supply Chain Risk”; faces a 6-month phase-out. |
| Infrastructure | Amazon/Azure Cloud: Runs on secure, air-gapped classified clouds. | Terminated: All federal agencies ordered to cease use immediately. |
The “Amazon Connection”
The defense deal is bolstered by a massive $50 billion strategic partnership between OpenAI and Amazon, also announced on February 27.
- Amazon is providing the Stateful Runtime Environment through Amazon Bedrock, which allows OpenAI’s models to seamlessly access the massive compute and memory resources required for large-scale military operations.
- This partnership effectively provides the physical and virtual infrastructure (the “Stargate” project) that President Trump has called essential for maintaining America’s AI lead over China.
Strategic Impact: A New Industry Baseline?
Altman has publicly urged the Department of War to offer these same terms—including the prohibitions on domestic surveillance—to all AI companies. He framed the deal as a way to “serve all of humanity” while acknowledging that the world is a “complicated and sometimes dangerous place.”
“We have expressed our strong desire to see things de-escalate away from legal and governmental actions and towards reasonable agreements.” — Sam Altman
