OpenAI Working With Pentagon on Cybersecurity, Veteran Suicide Prevention

OpenAI is reportedly working with the United States military on a number of projects.

The creator of ChatGPT is working with the Pentagon on cybersecurity tools and has had talks with the U.S. government about ways to help prevent veteran suicide, Bloomberg reported Tuesday (Jan. 16), citing its interview with OpenAI Vice President of Global Affairs Anna Makanju.

The artificial intelligence (AI) firm recently removed language from its terms of service that banned its technology from “military and warfare applications,” according to the report.

“Because we previously had what was essentially a blanket prohibition on military, many people thought that would prohibit many of these use cases, which people think are very much aligned with what we want to see in the world,” Makanju said in the report.

OpenAI still has a ban on using its AI to develop weapons, destroy property or harm people, she added, per the report.

PYMNTS Intelligence has found that cybersecurity breaches are a primary concern across many industries. In response, companies are using AI to address the threat, according to “Is That Content Generated by AI or Humans? Hard to Tell,” a PYMNTS and AI-ID collaboration.

In another recent development at OpenAI, the company said Monday (Jan. 15) that it is taking steps to prevent the misuse or exploitation of its AI technology in upcoming global elections. For example, the company is proactively anticipating and preventing potential abuses, working on better transparency around image provenance, and facilitating access to reliable voting information.

In the Tuesday report by Bloomberg, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said: “Elections are a huge deal. I think it’s good that we have a lot of anxiety.”

On Jan. 10, OpenAI launched a store offering GPTs, which are custom versions of its ChatGPT chatbot. The GPT Store allows ChatGPT Plus, Team and Enterprise users to browse GPTs developed by OpenAI’s partners and community.

On the same day, the company established a new review system to ensure GPTs adhere to its usage policies and GPT brand guidelines, said it will launch a revenue program for GPT builders, and began rolling out tools to help its Team and Enterprise customers manage GPTs.