OpenAI reaches Pentagon AI agreement

OpenAI signed an AI deployment agreement with the Department of Defense on Friday, February 21, 2026, the same day Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth designated competitor Anthropic a Supply-Chain Risk to National Security. The deal allows OpenAI to deploy its models on the Pentagon's classified network with prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and requirements for human responsibility in use of force, including for autonomous weapons. Anthropic, which was first to deploy AI on the Defense Department's classified network, saw contract talks collapse after demanding similar safeguards against autonomous weapons and mass surveillance that the Pentagon refused. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told employees OpenAI shared Anthropic's red lines and asked the Pentagon to offer identical terms to all AI companies, even as the Trump administration blacklisted Anthropic and forced all federal agencies and defense contractors to stop using its technology.

OpenAI's agreement with the Department of Defense

• ▪OpenAI reached an agreement with the Department of Defense on use of OpenAI's artificial intelligence models on Friday, February 21, 2026

Anthropic's designation as a national security risk

• ▪The Supply-Chain Risk to National Security label is typically reserved for foreign adversaries
• ▪The Supply-Chain Risk to National Security designation would force Department of Defense vendors and contractors to certify that they don't use Anthropic's models
• ▪The Department of Defense wanted Anthropic to agree to let the military use Anthropic's models across all lawful use cases
• ▪Anthropic intends to challenge the Supply-Chain Risk to National Security designation in court
• ▪Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth designated Anthropic a Supply-Chain Risk to National Security on Friday, February 21, 2026
• ▪President Donald Trump directed every federal agency in the United States to immediately cease all use of Anthropic's technology

Safety restrictions and red lines in military AI deployment

• ▪Sam Altman asked the Department of Defense to offer the same terms as OpenAI's agreement to all AI companies
• ▪The Department of Defense agreed to OpenAI's restrictions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force
• ▪Sam Altman told OpenAI employees in a Thursday memo that OpenAI shared the same red lines as Anthropic

Perspective of Anthropic

• ▪Anthropic plans to legally challenge its designation as a Supply-Chain Risk to National Security