Ted Lieu, Emil Michael and More Sound Off on OpenAI’s New Agreement With the Department of War
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), Christopher Hale and others expressed frustration after the Department of War struck a new deal with OpenAI, appearing to adopt terms previously sought by the now-banned Anthropic.
“The Department of Defense just agreed to the same two conditions with OpenAI that Anthropic was asking for,” the California congressman wrote on X. “Can someone explain? I genuinely don’t understand.”
Hale, a politician and DNC delegate, shared he “just canceled ChatGPT and bought Claude Pro Max” in response to the news. He added: “One stands up for the God-given rights of the American people. The other folds to tyrants.”
Lieu and Hale weren’t alone in their confusion and outrage, though, Emil Michael, the under secretary of war for research and engineering, emerged as a vocal supporter for the deal.
“When it’s comes to matters of life and death for our warfighters, having a reliable and steady partner that engages in good faith makes all the difference as we enter into the AI Age,” Michael wrote on X. “Onwards [Sam Altman].”
These comments came shortly after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confirmed on X Friday that the company had reached a deal “with the Department of War to deploy our models in their classified network.”
“In all of our interactions, the DoW displayed a deep respect for safety and a desire to partner to achieve the best possible outcome,” Altman continued. “AI safety and wide distribution of benefits are the core of our mission. Two of our most important safety principles are prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems. The DoW agrees with these principles, reflects them in law and policy, and we put them into our agreement.”
Altman also noted that OpenAI “will build technical safeguards to ensure our models behave as they should, which the DoW also wanted.”
However, it didn’t take long for the aforementioned thought leaders and others to weigh in on the update, given Altman had previously said Friday morning that he shared Anthropic’s “red lines” over restricting military use of AI. (For those wondering, Anthropic’s stance prompted President Donald Trump to label Anthropic “leftwing nut jobs” on Truth Social, adding, “Therefore, I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it and will not do business with them again!”)
For a roundup of reactions to the news, keep reading.
The Department of Defense just agreed to the same two conditions with OpenAI that Anthropic was asking for.
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) February 28, 2026
Can someone explain? I genuinely don’t understand. https://t.co/eLH6VBSv9q
I just canceled ChatGPT and bought Claude Pro Max.
— Christopher Hale (@ChristopherHale) February 28, 2026
One stands up for the God-given rights of the American people. The other folds to tyrants. https://t.co/re3h2rXEaK
When it’s comes to matters of life and death for our warfighters, having a reliable and steady partner that engages in good faith makes all the difference as we enter into the AI Age. Onwards @sama ! https://t.co/dnRnyw3sfl
— Under Secretary of War Emil Michael (@USWREMichael) February 28, 2026
I'm increasingly confused and disturbed by everything going on here. https://t.co/TJe7XtT1cX
— Tim Carney (@TPCarney) February 28, 2026
So…. Anthropic got blacklisted for the same red lines OpenAI just got written into its contract?
— Deirdre Bosa (@dee_bosa) February 28, 2026
Or did OpenAI just accept the weaker version of those red lines that Anthropic wouldn’t sign? https://t.co/jSTO42BqTo
For the avoidance of doubt, the OpenAI – @DeptofWar contract flows from the touchstone of “all lawful use” that DoW has rightfully insisted upon & xAI agreed to. But as Sam explained, it references certain existing legal authorities and includes certain mutually agreed upon… https://t.co/boVlh5kgfc
— Senior Official Jeremy Lewin (@UnderSecretaryF) February 28, 2026
Anthropic (1st tier): we won’t do mass surveillance on the American people with Claude.
— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) February 28, 2026
OpenAI (3rd tier): we will!
XAI (4th tier): we will!
Get ChapGPT and Grok off your phone!
So OpenAI signs with Pentagon and says they’re adhering to the same guardrails Anthropic wanted ? https://t.co/L4gkhvEdnf
— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) February 28, 2026
Anthropic asked that its model not be used in fully autonomous killer robots and mass surveillance of Americans. The pentagon flipped out and punished them, so of course this craven dork decided it was a chance to make more money. https://t.co/WFSr4TAo9J
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) February 28, 2026
So now I’m really confused. @OpenAI got Hegseth to agree to the same 2 principles that @AnthropicAI was asking for? Can someone explain this outcome? https://t.co/WjmMT7EyT7
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) February 28, 2026
Just a few hours ago he was on TV saying he stood by Anthropic.
— Mark Gadala-Maria (@markgadala) February 28, 2026
Then he undercuts them and takes the same contract that Anthropic just lost.
How can anyone trust this guy? https://t.co/xwBd4OSW7t
Let me get this straight.
— Gary Marcus (@GaryMarcus) February 28, 2026
– Dario showed integrity and wanted deal X, and got screwed
– Sam lied and showed no integrity and got (pretty much) deal X
– The government said that deal X was appalling and severed ties with party A and then made almost the same deal with party B… https://t.co/1GVww2U6y6
As of tonight, there are two frontier AI labs whose models are approved for use in classified military systems.
— Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) February 28, 2026
One has been declared a Huawei-level threat to national security for insisting that its models not be used for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous…
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