From TechRadar · · 1m 40s
The Pentagon asked OpenAI to say no less often
A FOIA lawsuit surfaced Pentagon paperwork asking for AI models with "minimal refusal rates," and nobody agrees whose words those were.
In brief
A FOIA lawsuit surfaced Pentagon paperwork asking for AI models with "minimal refusal rates," and nobody agrees whose words those were. When a government contract asks an AI vendor to refuse fewer requests, the safeguards are the thing being negotiated, and redacted contracts mean nobody outside can check what…
A contract asked for fewer no's
Documents released through a FOIA lawsuit described Pentagon plans for OpenAI models built for national security work with "minimal refusal rates" during military applications.
“minimal refusal rates”
What the paperwork described
The document covered testing, evaluating and improving OpenAI models for defense work, including specialized government-security models designed to reject fewer requests while running.
OpenAI says never
Spokesperson Nate Evans said the phrase is absent from the executed contract and called the released file an earlier Department draft that OpenAI pushed back on.
“OpenAI has never agreed to contract language requiring 'minimal refusal rates.'”
The Pentagon walks it back
A defense representative said the phrase appears in no active contract. A Pentagon lawyer confirmed the document, then withdrew that confirmation.
Nobody can check
The Intercept asked for completed agreements. Officials say what came out was a draft, and OpenAI has not published the full contract, so the real terms stay unverifiable.
Minimal refusal means minimal brakes
Consumer models decline help with planning attacks or picking targets. Heidy Khlaaf of the AI Now Institute read the phrase as asking for a model stripped of those limits.
“Minimal refusal is likely referring to little or no safeguards on the model being used”
The deal got bigger anyway
Through the dispute, OpenAI extended its military agreement to classified networks. It cites limits on autonomous weapons and surveillance of Americans, but heavy redactions hide how they apply.
The short version
When a government contract asks an AI vendor to refuse fewer requests, the safeguards are the thing being negotiated, and redacted contracts mean nobody outside can check what survived.
