Caitlin Kalinowski, the hardware executive leading OpenAI’s robotics team, said she has resigned from the company following its recently announced agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense that allows the use of OpenAI technology in classified environments.
Kalinowski announced the decision in a social media post, describing the move as based on concerns about governance and oversight related to the agreement.
“This wasn’t an easy call,” Kalinowski wrote. “AI has an important role in national security. But surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization are lines that deserved more deliberation than they got.”
Concerns Over Governance And Safeguards
Kalinowski joined OpenAI in November 2024 after previously leading the development of augmented reality glasses at Meta.
In her announcement, she said the decision was “about principle, not people,” and expressed respect for OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and other members of the company.
In a follow-up post on X, Kalinowski said her concern centered on the speed of the announcement and the absence of clearly defined safeguards.
“To be clear, my issue is that the announcement was rushed without the guardrails defined,” she wrote. “It’s a governance concern first and foremost. These are too important for deals or announcements to be rushed.”
OpenAI Defends Pentagon Agreement
OpenAI’s agreement with the Pentagon was announced just over a week earlier.
The deal allows OpenAI technology to be used in classified environments.
An OpenAI spokesperson said the company believes the arrangement establishes a framework for national security uses of artificial intelligence while maintaining limits on how the technology can be deployed.
“We believe our agreement with the Pentagon creates a workable path for responsible national security uses of AI while making clear our red lines: no domestic surveillance and no autonomous weapons,” the company said.
The spokesperson added that the company recognizes strong opinions surrounding these issues and plans to continue discussions with employees, government agencies, civil society groups, and communities.
Background To The Pentagon Deal
The agreement followed earlier discussions between the Pentagon and AI company Anthropic.
Those talks reportedly collapsed after Anthropic sought safeguards preventing its technology from being used for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons systems.
After negotiations ended, the Pentagon designated Anthropic as a supply-chain risk.
Anthropic said it intends to challenge that designation in court.
Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have said they will continue offering Anthropic’s Claude AI system to customers outside defense-related environments.
OpenAI subsequently announced its own agreement with the Pentagon.
Executives described the arrangement as involving a “more expansive, multi-layered approach” that includes both contractual provisions and technical safeguards designed to enforce usage restrictions.
Consumer Response To The Controversy
The agreement has drawn criticism from some technology observers and consumers.
According to available app store data, uninstallations of ChatGPT increased by 295% following the announcement.
At the same time, Anthropic’s Claude application moved to the top position on the Apple App Store rankings.
As of Saturday afternoon, Claude ranked as the number one free app in the U.S. App Store, with ChatGPT holding the number two position.
Featured image credits: Roboflow Universe
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