The Digester

Anthropic CEO accuses OpenAI of 'straight up lies' over Pentagon deal

Mar 5th 2026

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says OpenAI misrepresented protections in its Department of Defense agreement after Anthropic declined similar terms over surveillance and weaponization concerns, sparking public backlash.

  • Dario Amodei called OpenAI's public messaging about its Department of Defense contract "straight up lies" in a staff memo reported by The Information.
  • Anthropic refused the DoD's request for unrestricted access and demanded the DoD affirm it would not enable domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons.
  • OpenAI struck a separate DoD deal and said the contract explicitly excludes mass domestic surveillance and other unlawful uses.
  • Critics warned that changes to law could permit uses that are barred today.
  • ChatGPT uninstalls jumped 295 percent after OpenAI announced its defense contract.

Sources

techcrunch.com