OpenAI hardware chief resigns Pentagon deal concerns after Caitlin Kalinowski, who oversaw hardware at the company, announced she is stepping down over governance issues tied to OpenAI’s agreement with the US Department of Defence.
In a post on X, Kalinowski said OpenAI did not take enough time before agreeing to deploy its AI models on the Pentagon’s classified cloud networks. She argued the deal was announced “without the guardrails defined” and called it a governance issue that should not be rushed.
OpenAI Hardware Chief Resigns Over Pentagon Deal
Kalinowski wrote that AI can play an important role in national security, but raised concerns about two areas she said deserved deeper deliberation: domestic surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and “lethal autonomy” without human authorisation.
She added that she has “deep respect” for OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the team, but said the process moved too quickly for a decision of this scale.
OpenAI said the day after the agreement was struck that it includes additional safeguards to protect use cases.
Read: Pentagon Sets Anthropic AI Military Deadline Amid Defense Dispute
On Saturday, the company reiterated that its “red lines” prohibit the use of its technology for domestic surveillance or for autonomous weapons. OpenAI said it will continue engaging with employees, government, civil society and communities worldwide.
Kalinowski joined OpenAI in 2024 after leading augmented reality hardware development at Meta Platforms, according to the report.
