San Francisco-based OpenAI has won a $200 million one-year contract to put generative artificial intelligence (AI) to work for the military, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Monday.
“Under this award, the performer will develop prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains,” the Defense Department said.
AFP reports the defense department pilot program is the first partnership under the startup’s initiative to put AI to work in governments. All use of AI for the military will be consistent with OpenAI usage guidelines, according to the startup.
It comes as other countries have already started moving on the principle of wedding AI to military adaptations.
The report goes on to set out this may well be the first of many such U.S. military agreements to come, noting:
Big tech companies are increasingly pitching their tools to the US military, among them Meta, OpenAI and, more predictably, Palantir, the AI defense company founded by Peter Thiel, the conservative tech billionaire who has played a major role in Silicon Valley’s rightward shift.
OpenAI and defense tech startup Anduril Industries late last year announced a partnership to develop and deploy AI solutions “for security missions.”
The OpenAI initiative comes just four days after top executives from other Silicon Valley giants Palantir and Meta announced they are trading their corporate suits for military uniforms as they join a newly formed Army Reserve unit focused on upgrading military technology, as Breitbart News reported.
The tech recruits will serve around 120 hours a year, focusing on projects that leverage their expertise in AI, data analysis, and other cutting-edge technologies to enhance the Army’s capabilities.
Their mission is to help the military prepare for future conflicts, which are expected to heavily rely on ground robots, drones, sensor networks, and AI-powered coordination systems.
