Sam Altman says OpenAI rushed Pentagon deal as ChatGPT backlash erupts

Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, acknowledged that his company mishandled the rollout of its newly announced agreement with the US Department of War, calling the announcement “opportunistic and sloppy” after a sharp user backlash.

In a series of posts on X Monday, Altman said the artificial intelligence developer moved too quickly in formalizing the deal and failed to adequately explain the complexity of the issues involved. “One thing I think I did wrong: we shouldn’t have rushed to get this out on Friday,” he wrote.

The contract, disclosed Friday, permits deployment of the company’s technology on classified military networks.

Within 24 hours, ChatGPT uninstalls in the US jumped 295%, according to Sensor Tower data cited by TechCrunch. A viral campaign to cancel the chatbot drove a 775% surge in one-star app store reviews.

Claude, the competing assistant developed by Anthropic, rose to the top of Apple’s US download rankings, according to Appfigures.

Altman said the company is revising its agreement to include explicit language barring domestic surveillance of US persons, citing constitutional and national security statutes. The updated terms will prohibit deliberate tracking or monitoring of Americans, including through commercially obtained personal data.

He added that the Defense Department confirmed its services would not be used by intelligence agencies like the NSA without a separate contract modification.

In a follow-up post, Altman stressed that AI governance must remain subject to democratic oversight and that no private company should determine the trajectory of society. He said the firm intends to collaborate with governments while safeguarding civil liberties.

The company plans to hold an all-hands meeting to address employee concerns, Altman said, describing the episode as among the first major decisions involving direct government integration that the organization has faced.