OpenAI CEO Sam Altman met with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., where Sen. Mark Kelly, D‑Ariz., said he raised “serious questions” about the company’s approach to warfare and its recent deal with the Department of Defense.
The meeting followed OpenAI’s late February agreement with the DOD, hours after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared Anthropic a “supply-chain risk to national security.”
Anthropic had been trying to renegotiate its contract with the DOD but talks stalled over military access to its models – the DOD sought unfettered access to the models “for all lawful purposes,” while Anthropic sought assurances its models would not be used for fully autonomous weapons or domestic mass surveillance.
Kelly told CNBC they discussed surveillance and how AI systems could be used within a kill chain and said “there’s got to be guardrails in place” and that “Congress needs to have a role” in crafting legislation.
OpenAI published a contract excerpt saying the DOD “may use the AI System for all lawful purposes,” and the company said it was confident the DOD would not be able to use its AI systems for mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons because of OpenAI’s safety stack, the contract language, and existing laws.
Originally written by: Minh Le
Source: Tech In Asia
Published on: 13 March 2026
Link to original article: OpenAI CEO meets lawmakers over Pentagon AI deal
