OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has secured a $200 million (approximately 270 billion won) contract to supply artificial intelligence (AI) tools to the Ministry of National Defense, according to a report by Reuters on the 16th (local time). An analysis indicates that as the movement to integrate AI into military power accelerates, the defense sector is emerging as a new opportunity for the AI industry.
The Ministry of National Defense announced that it has signed a cutting-edge AI supply contract with OpenAI. The Ministry explained that “with this contract, OpenAI will develop prototypes of advanced AI capabilities to address important national security challenges in combat and institutional areas.”
The contract period extends until July of next year. Specific development details have not been disclosed. This marks the first time that OpenAI has won a contract with the Ministry of National Defense.
In December of last year, OpenAI joined a project with U.S. unmanned defense industry company Anduril to enhance the U.S. military's drone defense capabilities. At that time, OpenAI stated, “We will improve the defense system to protect U.S. and allied soldiers from attacks by unmanned drones by combining OpenAI's AI models with Anduril's high-performance defense systems.”
Recently, major tech corporations in Silicon Valley are setting their sights on military AI projects. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, recently announced plans to develop AI-based extended reality (XR) military equipment in collaboration with Anduril. Earlier, Anthropic also stated that it plans to provide its AI models to the U.S. Department of Defense and intelligence agencies in cooperation with Palantir Technologies and Amazon.
Palantir is conducting a $1 billion AI and data project with the Army, while Microsoft is developing a customized version of its flagship AI chatbot, Copilot, for use by the Ministry of National Defense.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, expressed a desire to actively participate in the field of national security during a discussion with Paul Nakasoné, the former Director General of the National Security Agency (NSA) and current director at OpenAI, at an event at Vanderbilt University in April.