At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 16, it was revealed that OpenAI and the Department of Defense will be collaborating on artificial intelligence-based cybersecurity technology.
The news has broader implications than just those in the cyber or AI realms: before last week, OpenAI had resisted sanctioning use of its popular ChatGPT application by the defense industry and military. However, just days prior to the WEF, this policy was altered, reported The Register.
The Potomac Officers Club will host its 2024 Cyber Summit on June 6. Register here (at the Early Bird rate!) to save a spot at what’s sure to be an essential gathering on all things cyber and government contracting, discussing the biggest issues of the day—such as the partnership between the Pentagon and OpenAI.
Using ChatGPT for “military and warfare” operations was explicitly barred prior to last week, but their restriction no longer appears in the app’s permissions statement. An OpenAI representative said that the expansion is due to the recognition of “national security use cases that align with our mission.”
According to OpenAI Vice President of Global Affairs Anna Makanju, the DOD collaboration intends to produce open-source cybersecurity software. But the company cautioned that its product is not meant to “harm people, develop weapons, for communications surveillance, or to injure others or destroy property.”
This is likely in reference to the fact that generative AI like ChatGPT, in the wrong hands, could be configured to assist the crooked aims of cybercriminals and hackers. 56 percent of participants at the WEF’s November 2023 Annual Meeting of Cybersecurity thought that generative AI will give attackers the upper hand in cyber warfare over the next two years.
The DOD and OpenAI will clearly have to move carefully and with great deliberation in order to execute their work without catalyzing negative consequences.
To continue the conversation on the most daunting cyber threats and how the government is working with industry to solve them, register and attend the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Cyber Summit. Last year’s event featured top representatives from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the DOD, the White House and more.
