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On Monday, June 16, the United States Department of Defense signed a $200 million contract with OpenAI to deploy generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) for military use, despite the company’s previous commitments not to develop AI tools for warfare.
According to the Pentagon, OpenAI—the US-based creator of ChatGPT—will “develop prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains.”
Under this cooperation, OpenAI plans to demonstrate how advanced AI can enhance administrative functions, such as healthcare for military service members and cyber defense.
The new deal follows revelations that OpenAI’s Chief Product Officer, Kevin Weil, and two former AI executives have been commissioned as lieutenant colonels in the US Army. Similarly, the US military has recruited top executives from Meta and Palantir—a data analytics firm notorious for enabling surveillance—to form Detachment 201, a unit dedicated to embedding AI and tech expertise into military operations.
While OpenAI had collaborated with defense contractors before, this marks its first direct partnership with a government. OpenAI claims that all military applications will comply with its own usage guidelines—standards the company itself sets and which have failed to uphold consistent ethical principles.
Initially, OpenAI had explicitly banned its AI tools from being used for military and warfare purposes. However, the explicit wording was quietly removed in January of last year. OpenAI later announced a partnership with defense contractor Anduril Industries to integrate its AI into counter-drone systems.
Palestine as a testing ground
These developments raise alarm over the rapid militarization and weaponization of AI, especially as these technologies are already deployed in the ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
OpenAI has been linked to the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) through collaborations with companies like Microsoft, contributing to the development and deployment of AI systems such as Gospel and Lavender.
These systems have reportedly been used to identify, track, and target individuals and civilian structures in Gaza, including homes, residential buildings, and even aid workers—playing a direct role in facilitating Israel’s genocide.
Meta has long enforced systemic censorship against pro-Palestinian content since October 2023. Human Rights Watch has documented how Meta’s platforms—including Facebook and Instagram—have suppressed posts about Palestinian human rights, peaceful protests, and documentation of abuses, driven by flawed moderation policies, over-reliance on automated tools, and likely government influence.
Palantir Technologies has been implicated in the Gaza genocide by supplying advanced AI-powered surveillance and data analytics to the IOF, used to identify and preemptively detain Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, enabling gross violations of international humanitarian law. In January 2024, Palantir cemented its complicity by signing a strategic partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Defense, with CEO Alex Karp publicly expressing pride in supporting Israel’s “war effort.”
These egregious violations of Palestinian rights and lives continue unchecked, largely due to Western indifference. Gaza and the occupied West Bank have long served as experimental grounds for the latest and deadliest warfare technologies—where AI-powered surveillance, automated targeting systems, and predictive policing tools are tested on a captive population under a brutal occupation and apartheid.
The US government agencies now openly partnering with the very tech companies behind these systems, further legitimizes the concern that the brutal tactics refined on Palestinians will be normalized and exported on a much wider scale, expanding state violence and repression under the guise of technological progress.
