OpenAI bots lead Caitlin Kalinowski’s resignation in response to Pentagon deal

In response to… OpenAI’s controversial agreement with the Department of DefenseShe resigned from her role leading the company’s robotics team.

“This was not an easy call,” Kalinowski said. In a post on social media. “AI has an important role in national security. But surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization are lines that deserve more deliberation than they have received.”

Kalinowski, who previously led the team building augmented reality glasses at Meta, She joined OpenAI in November 2024. In her announcement today, she emphasized that the decision was “about principles, not people,” and said she had “deep respect” for CEO Sam Altman and the OpenAI team.

In a follow-up post on X“To be clear, my issue is that the announcement was made in haste without identifying guardrails,” Kalinowski added. “It’s primarily a governance concern. These matters are too important to rush through deals or announcements.”

An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed Kalinowski’s departure to TechCrunch.

“We believe our agreement with the Pentagon creates a practical path for responsible national security uses of AI while clarifying our red lines: no domestic surveillance and no autonomous weapons,” the company said in a statement. “We recognize that people have strong views on these issues and we will continue to engage in the debate with employees, government, civil society and communities around the world.”

OpenAI’s agreement with the Pentagon was announced just over a week ago Discussions between the Pentagon and Anthropic failed The artificial intelligence company attempted to negotiate safeguards that would prevent its technology from being used for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. The Pentagon after that Anthropy has been described as a risk to the supply chain. (Anthropy said he would Fight the appointment to the court; Meanwhile, Microsoft, Google and Amazon said they would continue to do so Make Anthropic’s Claude available to non-defense customers.)

Then quickly open OpenAI She announced her own deal Allowing its technology to be used in secret environments. As executives tried to explain the deal on social media, The company described it It takes a “broader, multi-layered approach” that relies not only on the language of the contract, but also on technical safeguards, to protect red lines similar to the humanitarian line.

However, the controversy appears to have damaged OpenAI’s reputation among some consumers ChatGPT uninstalls rise by 295% and Cloud climbs to the top of the App Store charts. As of Saturday afternoon, Claude and ChatGPT remain the No. 1 and No. 2 free apps in the US App Store, respectively.