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OpenAI agrees to deploy its models on Department of War classified networks

DealDefenceFrontierUSConfirmed

A day after Anthropic was cut off, OpenAI announced an agreement to run its models on classified Department of War networks. OpenAI says the deal is cloud-only, keeps its safety stack in place, embeds cleared OpenAI staff, and bars mass domestic surveillance, directing fully autonomous weapons and high-stakes automated decisions; a 2 March update added explicit contract language against intentional domestic surveillance of US persons.

Why it matters

It shows a lab can win military work by enforcing limits through deployment architecture and contract terms rather than a usage policy, a template others may copy.

SourceOpenAICoverage: TechCrunch Checked against the primary source. Independently fact-checked on 7 Oct 2026.
OpenAIDepartment of War

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