Last Thursday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei made a surprise statement regarding the company’s decision to bail on negotiations with the Department of War. While the Pentagon had already made extensive use of their generative AI model, they began requesting that Anthropic ease restrictions on their terms of use. In a first for the tech industry, the major AI company took an unexpectedly pro-human-existence stance, with Amodei citing mass surveillance and “fully autonomous weapons” as lines he wouldn’t cross. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, however, is a-okay with these terms, with Altman recently taking to social media to boast about its new venture in arms dealing with the U.S. government.
“In all of our interactions, the DoW displayed a deep respect for safety and a desire to partner to achieve the best possible outcome,” Altman posted Friday night. “We remain committed to serve all of humanity as best we can. The world is a complicated, messy, and sometimes dangerous place.”
Ok, what kind of American Ai company are you? pic.twitter.com/7IJFMnpdrb
— Skely (@123skely) February 28, 2026
Though light on the details, Altman also said OpenAI had principles regarding surveillance and the training of killing machines, but said that their terms match the Department of War’s enough to shake on it. “We are asking the DoW to offer these same terms to all AI companies,” wrote Altman, “which in our opinion we think everyone should be willing to accept. We have expressed our strong desire to see things de-escalate away from legal and governmental actions and towards reasonable agreements.”
Altman’s commitment to existence on Earth doesn’t breed a lot of confidence. The week prior, Altman made a very bizarre defense of AI’s infamous energy usage, saying that as gnarly as OpenAI’s water consumption is, training a human to reach the same stage of development requires “20 years of life and all of the food you eat during that time before you get smart.”
On the other end, whatever spooked Anthropic in the Pentagon was enough to rankle the rest of the administration. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth threatened to label Anthropic a security risk or to enforce new laws in retaliation. It even riled up President Donald Trump’s usual brand of ire.
The people Altman just handed over the OpenAI keys to are the same ones currently waging illegal wars from Latin America to the Middle East. Mere hours after Altman celebrated his new deal with the Department of War, the U.S. military initiated an unprovoked bombing campaign against Iran in partnership with Israel. It’s reportedly been planned for months without any authorization from Congress.
“The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties,” Trump said in a video message earlier today. “That often happens in war.” According to newswires like Al Jazeera, one of the bombs hit an all-girls elementary school, with at least 50 civilian casualties and counting. Whatever Altman’s new conditions are regarding AI’s usage on self-automated death machines, we may learn sooner than later.
