About a week after OpenAI signed an artificial intelligence (AI) contract with the Ministry of National Defense, Caitlin Kalinowski, head of the Robotics institutional sector, said she would leave the company.
On the 7th (local time), Kalinowski said on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that she intended to resign, noting that surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and autonomous lethal action without human approval needed much more discussion. She also suggested that the contract was rushed out before safeguards and decision-making structures were sufficiently in place.
The controversy stems from a contract OpenAI signed with the Ministry of National Defense on the 27th. OpenAI agreed to deploy its AI models on the ministry's classified cloud network and later said the contract included additional protections. The company said it has so-called "prohibitions" stating that its technology cannot be used for large-scale surveillance in the United States, control of autonomous weapons systems, or significant automated decision-making.
But the criticism did not subside easily. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged that the contract disclosure was made too hastily and later said the company would revise the language to more clearly block concerns about domestic surveillance of Americans. Still, questions persisted externally about whether real control was possible.
User backlash also emerged. Citing Sensor Tower data, TechCrunch reported that immediately after the contract announcement, daily deletions of the ChatGPT app in the United States surged 295% in a day, and one-star ratings jumped 775%. During the same period, Anthropic's Claude app rose to No. 1 among free apps in the U.S. App Store.
The issue also overlaps with tensions between rival Anthropic and the Ministry of National Defense. Anthropic clashed with the ministry over the scope of use for its model "Claude" and later received notice designating it as a supply-chain risk from the ministry. Anthropic has said it will challenge the decision in court.