OpenAI Taps Ex-Army Chief to Push ‘Democratic AI’ Into Defense
OpenAI Taps Ex-Army Chief to Push ‘Democratic AI’ Into Defense
OpenAI has brought former U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll into a newly created senior advisory role, placing a former Pentagon leader at the center of its growing national-security business.
The company said Driscoll will lead work on “national security modernization,” advising executives and outside partners on defense uses for advanced AI. His brief includes helping U.S. allies adopt the technology responsibly and supporting what OpenAI calls the buildout of “democratic AI.”
The appointment follows Driscoll’s resignation as Army secretary roughly two months earlier, after an 18-month tenure marked by a push for the service to embrace newer battlefield technologies and work more closely with technology firms and startups. He had also served as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
For OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, the hire is part of a larger geopolitical argument: “The US has an extraordinary opportunity to work with other countries to spread the adoption of democratic AI.” Driscoll is expected to work across government, industry, academia and allied institutions, while helping OpenAI understand the operational demands of security agencies.
Driscoll’s case is more practical. “The people who serve deserve the very best tools we can put in their hands,” he said, arguing that AI can cut paperwork, sift more information and get answers to decision-makers faster.
The move comes as OpenAI broadens its work with Washington. Its government unit has consolidated federal partnerships; an initial Department of War agreement had a ceiling of $200 million and covered potential uses from administrative tasks and acquisition analysis to cyber defense. OpenAI says those agreements bar mass domestic surveillance, autonomous weapons acting independently and certain high-stakes decisions without human oversight—a boundary central to its claim that military AI can be both powerful and responsible.
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