Find a way to work together Sam Altmans message to the Department of Defense and Anthropic

Date:
Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Description:
Sam Altman argues that AI labs and governments must work together, while also hinting at the difficult tradeoffs shaping OpenAIs next phase.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Become a Member in Seconds Unlock instant access to exclusive member
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your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Sam Altman urged the government and Anthropic to de-escalate tensions and work together on AI governance He argued that governments should hold power over
AI and national security decisions He said he still mostly trusts the government, while accepting that many don't Relations between Anthropic and the U.S. government have become an unusually combustible flashpoint in the broader fight over AI regulations and control. The escalating fight began
when negotiations with the Pentagon over how Anthropics Claude AI model could be used broke down over the company's refusal to remove safeguards against fully autonomous weapons or mass domestic surveillance.

Responses from Washington, including an executive directive banning federal agencies from using Anthropics technology and labeling the company a supply chain risk, led to lawsuits alleging constitutional violations, and a federal judge has since temporarily blocked the Pentagons actions. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman apparently sees harmony as necessary on both ends of the argument. Article continues below You may like Altman defends ChatGPT's safety against Musk accusations Anthropics Super Bowl ad trolled OpenAI and Sam Altman is fuming Sam Altman regrets rushed defense deal as ChatGPT uninstalls surge by 295%

"Find a way to work together. like stop, stop the stuff on both, stop the escalation on both sides and find a way to work together," Altman said in an interview with Laurie Segall. AI's security demands Sam Altman, CEO of
OpenAI. (Image credit: Getty Images/Bloomberg) AI companies have hyped the technology's potential in realms like national security, even as they lobby for a light regulatory touch. Altman has apparently concluded that the companies cannot have it both ways. If AI is as geopolitically consequential as everyone keeps insisting, then governments are going to want a hand on the wheel.

"I don't think it works for our industry to say, Hey, this is the most powerful technology humanity has ever built," Altman said. "It is going to be the high order bit in geopolitics. It is going to be the greatest cyber
weapon the world has ever built. It is going to, you know, be the determinant of future wars and protection. And we are not giving it to you."

Of course, whether people feel comfortable with the government controlling such consequential technology is another question. Altman said he still
mostly trusts the system of checks and balances, though he did acknowledge that many people currently really dont trust the government to follow the
law. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

It's a position that stands out compared to some AI leaders who are more suspicious of the government. Nonetheless, he thinks it would be a mistake
not to help the government with national security, especially in cyber infrastructure.

"I think we have to work with government, but the intensity of the current mood of mistrust, I was miscalibrated on and I understand something there now," he said. Trust in AI control Essentially, Altman and others aligned
with him want to work with governments, even as the public distrust over the misuse of AI grows. What to read next Trump just banned Anthropic from government use this is how we got here 'Straight up lies': Anthropic CEO attacks OpenAI's US military deal Sam Altman issues stark warning as $1 billion plan is revealed

"One of the most important questions the world will have to answer in the
next year is, are AI companies or are governments more powerful? And I think it's very important that the governments are more powerful," Altman said.
"The future of the world, and the decisions about the most important elements of national security should be made through a democratically elected process. And the people that have been appointed as part of that process, not me, and not the CEO of some other lab."

Altman kept coming back to the issue of the way the power of AI is arriving faster than institutions, governments, or most humans can calibrate for it. The systems are getting more capable, and their potential for misuse grows in tandem.

The stakes are higher and more serious all the time. Big fights among those who are supposed to devise safe regulations and the companies, at least theoretically, trying to steer the technology in an ethical direction, represent an enormous problem.

A diplomatic shrug urging diametrically opposed sides to find a way to work together won't likely resolve matters. Still, at least it means Altman knows the answer won't be obvious, even if he phrased it as a request to ChatGPT. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the
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