In the midst of renegotiating AI usage terms with the Pentagon, Sam Altman brought back the #AMA on X.
He attempted to cast light (and favor) on his own work with the Defense Department. He said the government did not threaten OpenAI to make a deal, and pledged not to conduct mass surveillance even if it became legal (“it violates the Constitution”), and that the government’s spat with Anthropic sets “an extremely scary precedent.”
At the core of Altman’s worldview — which revealed itself more through his answers — is the belief that “a democratically elected government” usurps “unelected private companies.” On the flipside, Anthropic appears to see a moral imperative in checking the government when and where it conflicts with its own mission.
“I am terrified of a world where AI companies act like they have more power than the government,” Altman wrote. But with trillion-dollar valuations, AI developments outpacing regulators, and products that control the future flow of information, that reality isn’t all that unfathomable.