Caitlin Kalinowski has stepped down from her position as head of hardware at OpenAI after raising concerns over the company’s recent agreement with the United States Department of Defense. Kalinowski announced her decision in a post on social media, explaining that the move followed the controversy surrounding the deal which allows the company’s artificial intelligence technology to be used in classified military environments.
According to her, the decision to resign was not easy, but it was based on principle. She noted that while artificial intelligence can play an important role in national security, issues such as surveillance of citizens without judicial oversight and the use of autonomous weapons without human approval required deeper discussion before any agreement was made.
Kalinowski, who joined the company in November 2024 after previously working at Meta Platforms on augmented reality glasses, said she still holds deep respect for the leadership of the organisation, including its Chief Executive Officer, Sam Altman. She stressed that her resignation was not directed at individuals but was driven by concerns about governance and the speed at which the decision was announced.
In response, OpenAI confirmed her departure and defended the agreement with the United States Department of Defense. The company said the deal includes safeguards to prevent domestic surveillance and the use of fully autonomous weapons, while allowing responsible national security uses of artificial intelligence. The controversy has also sparked competition in the AI industry, with rival firm Anthropic seeing increased attention for its Claude chatbot in recent app store rankings.