Liputan6.com, Jakarta - OpenAI, the company behind the popular artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT, recently signed a controversial deal with the United States Department of Defense (USD), also known as the Department of War (DoW) in March 2.
This deal allows OpenAI's AI tools to be used by the military in "classified environments."
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This move immediately sparked a wave of protests and subscription cancellations from loyal ChatGPT users worldwide.
The campaign also strongly advises against using Grok, available on Elon Musk's X platform. "People think ChatGPT is the only chatbot in the game,” the website states. “It’s time to change that.”
The organisation has also planned an in-person protest at the OpenAI HQ in San Francisco on 3 March.
The $200 million contract aims to develop prototype AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges, both in the warfighting and enterprise domains.
This agreement drew intense scrutiny because it came shortly after OpenAI's competitor, Anthropic, the developer of Claude AI, rejected a similar offer from the Pentagon.
Controversial Deal Between OpenAI and the Pentagon
OpenAI has signed a $200 million contract with the US Department of Defense to integrate its AI models into the agency's network.
The primary goal of this collaboration is to develop advanced artificial intelligence capabilities that can help address a variety of complex national security challenges.
This deal is all the more controversial given that OpenAI's rival, Anthropic, had previously rejected a similar offer from the Pentagon.
Anthropic withdrew from negotiations because the US Department of Defense did not agree to explicit restrictions prohibiting the use of its AI for domestic mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons systems.
President Donald Trump even announced that the US government would no longer use Anthropic's technology, calling it a "supply chain risk" following the rejection.
OpenAI's Restrictions and Assurances
Despite the agreement, OpenAI claims that its agreement with the US Department of Defense includes strict restrictions.
These restrictions prohibit the use of its technology for domestic mass surveillance and directing autonomous weapons systems.
Furthermore, OpenAI also prohibits the use of its AI for high-risk automated decisions, such as "social credit" systems.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated the company's commitment to building technical safeguards and involving approved OpenAI engineers.
This aims to ensure that these restrictions are not violated in the implementation of its AI technology.
Altman also asserted that the OpenAI deal had "many more restrictions" than the initial contract offered to Anthropic.
Wave of Protests and ChatGPT Cancellation
News of OpenAI's deal with the US military sparked a highly negative public reaction, particularly from the ChatGPT user community.
Many users began canceling their subscriptions and switching to alternatives like Anthropic's Claude.
The hashtag "#CancelChatGPT" quickly spread across social media and Reddit.
A dedicated website, CancelChatGPT.com (also known as QuitGPT), was created to summarize criticism and provide account deletion guidance.
The impact on app downloads was significant; ChatGPT app deletions surged 295% on the day the deal was announced.
In contrast, Anthropic's Claude saw a dramatic increase in downloads, even topping app charts in the US, Canada, and Germany.
Users launched harsh criticism, accusing OpenAI of having "no ethics whatsoever," of "selling its soul," and of "training war machines."
Sam Altman himself acknowledged that the timing of the deal created a "bad image" and promised to amend the agreement to include more anti-surveillance language.