OpenAI announced it has won a $200 million, one-year pilot project contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to help DOD “identify and prototype how frontier AI can transform its administrative operations, from improving how service members and their families get health care, to streamlining how they look at program and acquisition data, to supporting proactive cyber defense.”
It’s part of the OpenAI for Government initiative intended to bring AI tools to government agencies at the federal, state and local levels, OpenAI said. “We’re supporting the U.S. government’s efforts in adopting best-in-class technology and deploying these tools in service of the public good. Our goal is to unlock AI solutions that enhance the capabilities of government workers, help them cut down on the red tape and paperwork, and let them do more of what they come to work each day to do: serve the American people.
The Defense Department deal came to OpenAI through DOD’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO).
The company said OpenAI for Government consolidates their existing AI with the U.S. government—including previously announced customers and partnerships as well as the ChatGPT Gov product—under one umbrella. The company’s established collaborations with the U.S. national labs, the Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA, NIH, and the Treasury Department will all be brought under OpenAI for Government.
OpenAI for Government offers federal, state and local governments access to OpenAI models, including through ChatGPT Enterprise and ChatGPT Gov, custom models for national security, support and information on what’s coming next from OpenAI.
“Across these efforts, we’re aiming to improve both the day-to-day experience of public service and to help government employees feel more empowered, more efficient, and more supported in their critical missions,” OpenAI said in its announcement blog. “We are already seeing how OpenAI can help public servants at the state level spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time on high-impact work.”
The company cited Pennsylvania state workers participating in an OpenAI pilot program, reporting they found ChatGPT helped cut time spent on routine tasks by about 105 minutes per day. At the federal level, at Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Labs,OpenAI models are being deployed to to scientific research and national security readiness.
