The head of robotics at OpenAI resigned on Saturday, citing concerns over a deal between the AI company and the US government allowing its technology to be used for military and domestic surveillance purposes.
Caitlin Kalinowski explained her decision in a post on X, stating, “AI plays an important role in national security. But the surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorisation are issues that deserved more consideration than they received.”
In February, OpenAI signed a contract with the Pentagon, shortly after its competitor Anthropic refused to comply with a government ultimatum demanding unrestricted military use of its AI assistant, Claude. The decision reportedly drew criticism from Donald Trump.
Following the backlash, OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, announced changes to the agreement. He specified in a post on X that the company had added a clause stating its AI systems should not be used “intentionally” for “surveillance” of US citizens.
“This is a matter of principle, not of people,” Kalinowski clarified about her resignation. She added that she has “a lot of respect for Sam [Altman-ed.] and the team.” However, she criticised the decision-making process behind the agreement, stating the announcement was rushed and lacked safeguards. “It’s a governance issue above all. These matters are too significant for agreements or announcements to be hurried,” she wrote in a follow-up message.
Prior to joining OpenAI, Kalinowski worked at Meta, where she was involved in developing augmented reality glasses.
