OpenAI Robotics Chief Caitlin Kalinowski Resigns Over "Rushed" Pentagon Defense Deal

OpenAI’s head of robotics and consumer hardware Caitlin Kalinowski on Saturday announced her resignation, citing governance concerns over the company’s agreement to deploy its AI models on the classified cloud networks of the United States Department of Defense.

She said the deal was rushed, lacked clearly defined guardrails, and crossed critical ethical lines related to domestic surveillance and lethal autonomy.

In a post on X, Kalinowski stated that AI could play a role in national security but warned that “surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization are lines that deserved more deliberation.” She added that while she respected Sam Altman and her colleagues, she believed the company moved too quickly on a sensitive partnership without adequate governance processes.

She added, “To be clear, my issue is that the announcement was rushed without the guardrails defined. It's a governance concern first and foremost. These are too important for deals or announcements to be rushed.”

Kalinowski joined OpenAI in November 2024 after previously working at Meta on augmented-reality hardware. Her departure highlights growing unease among employees over defence-related AI partnerships at a time when leading technology companies are grappling with complex ethical and governance questions.

OpenAI’s Response

OpenAI confirmed her departure and defended its agreement with the Pentagon, stating that the arrangement includes safeguards and clearly defined “red lines” that prohibit domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons.

The company also said it plans to engage employees, government stakeholders, and civil society groups as it implements the contract.

According to OpenAI, additional safeguards will restrict permitted use cases and help establish a responsible pathway for national-security applications of its technology.

The agreement followed the collapse of earlier Pentagon discussions with Anthropic. The company had reportedly sought explicit assurances that its AI systems would not be used for mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. After those talks broke down, Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to suspend work with Anthropic, and the Pentagon subsequently labelled the firm a supply-chain risk, a designation the company has said it intends to challenge.

Cancel ChatGPT Trend

Shortly after the deal was announced, several users of OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT began cancelling their subscriptions and the hashtag #CancelChatGPT started trending online.

Many of these users reportedly shifted to OpenAI’s rival start-up Anthropic. Amid the trend, Anthropic’s AI model Claude overtook ChatGPT to become the top AI app on Apple’s US App Store.

Notably, before OpenAI’s signing the same Pentagon deal was rejected by Anthropic, citing mass surveillance and security risks. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei while rejecting the agreement had said, “we cannot in good conscience accede to their request.”