Key points
- AI to improve military operations and cyber defence
- OpenAI partners with Anduril for drone security
- Military AI use aligns with OpenAI’s guidelines
SAN FRANCISCO, United States: The United States Department of Defence on Monday awarded OpenAI a $200 million contract to put generative artificial intelligence (AI) to work for the military.
San Francisco-based OpenAI will “develop prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains,” according to the department’s posting of awarded contracts, according to AFP.
The programme with the defence department is the first partnership under the start-up’s initiative to put AI to work in governments, according to OpenAI.
OpenAI plans to show how cutting-edge AI can vastly improve administrative operations, such as how service members get health care and also cyber defences, the start-up said in a post.
AI’s military use
All use of AI for the military will be consistent with OpenAI usage guidelines, according to the start-up.
Big tech companies are increasingly pitching their tools to the US military, among them Meta, OpenAI, and, more predictably, Palantir, the AI defence company founded by Peter Thiel, the conservative tech billionaire who has played a major role in Silicon Valley’s rightward shift.
OpenAI and defence tech start-up Anduril Industries late last year announced a partnership to develop and deploy AI solutions “for security missions.”
The alliance brings together OpenAI models and Anduril’s military tech platform to ramp up defences against aerial drones and other “unmanned aircraft systems”, according to the companies, according to Tech in Asia.
“OpenAI builds AI to benefit as many people as possible, and supports US-led efforts to ensure the technology upholds democratic values,” OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said at the time.
