OPENAI is working with the Pentagon on a number of projects including cybersecurity capabilities, a departure from the startup’s earlier ban on providing its artificial intelligence (AI) to militaries.

The ChatGPT maker is developing tools with the US Defence Department on open-source cybersecurity software, and has had initial talks with the US government about methods to assist with preventing veteran suicide, Anna Makanju, the company’s vice president of global affairs, said in an interview at Bloomberg House at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday (Jan 16).

The company had recently removed language in its terms of service banning its AI from “military and warfare” applications. Makanju described the decision as part of a broader update of its policies to adjust to new uses of ChatGPT and its other tools.

“Because we previously had what was essentially a blanket prohibition on military, many people thought that would prohibit many of these use cases, which people think are very much aligned with what we want to see in the world,” she said. But OpenAI maintained a ban on using its tech to develop weapons, destroy property or harm people, Makanju said.

Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest investor, provides several software contracts to the US armed forces and other government branches.

OpenAI also said that it is accelerating its work on election security, devoting resources to ensuring that its generative AI tools are not used to spread political disinformation.

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“Elections are a huge deal,” Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive officer, said. “I think it’s good that we have a lot of anxiety.” BLOOMBERG