OpenAI hardware leader resigns over concerns about 'surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization'

OpenAI hardware leader resigns over concerns about ‘surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization’ | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these AI Nvidia’s Jensen Huang: ‘I think the opportunity to invest $100 billion in OpenAI is probably not in the cards’ AI Microsoft CEO says ‘I look at all agents as users’, and that means AI ones too, as each agentic bot ‘will have its own identity’ AI ‘We shouldn’t have rushed to get this out on Friday’: OpenAI hastily amends the terms of its controversial deal with the US Department of War as CEO Sam Altman claims it’s been a ‘good learning experience’ AI Big Tech makes White House pledge to stump up for the increased energy costs of AI and prevent household bills from escalating Platforms Open-source game engine Godot is drowning in ‘AI slop’ code contributions: ‘I don’t know how long we can keep it up’ Games Microsoft’s ties with ICE come under fire amidst allegations that the company’s cloud and AI technology are being used to support mass surveillance of US citizens AI Microsoft CEO warns that we must ‘do something useful’ with AI or they’ll lose ‘social permission’ to burn electricity on it AI DeepSeek has reportedly denied Nvidia and AMD early access to its new V4 AI model, giving Huawei and other Chinese chipmakers a head start AI ‘I had to RUN to my Mac mini like I was defusing a bomb’: OpenClaw AI chose to ‘speedrun’ deleting Meta AI safety director’s inbox due to a ‘rookie error’ AI Reports claim an AWS outage last year was caused by an AI coding tool deciding to ‘delete and recreate the environment’ from scratch, while Amazon says ‘misconfigured access controls’ were to blame AI A human software engineer rejected an AI agent’s code change request, only for the AI agent to retaliate by publishing an ‘angry’ blog about him Gaming Industry ‘Father of the Xbox’ predicts the end following Phil Spencer’s exit: The new CEO will be ‘a palliative care doctor who slides Xbox gently into the night’ AI OpenAI announces another $110 billion in investment funding including $30 billion from Nvidia, but says Microsoft is still its best friend forever AI Anthropic AI’s safety lead quits with epic vaguepost claiming ‘the world is in peril’, and so he’s off to become ‘invisible’ and study poetry AI Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says it’s time to stop talking about AI ‘slop’ and start talking about a ‘theory of the mind that accounts for humans being equipped with these new cognitive amplifier tools’ PopularNEW: PC Gamer Clips!MarathonArc RaidersBest PC gearQuizzes Software AI OpenAI hardware leader resigns over concerns about ‘surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization’ News By James Bentley published 9 March 2026 This is after the company signed a deal with the US Department of War. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter PC Gamer Get the PC Gamer Newsletter Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday GamesRadar+ Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you’re going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Signup + Every Thursday GTA 6 O’clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O’clock experts. Signup + Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what’s on the horizon. Signup + Every Thursday The Setup Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more. Signup + Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo’s new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play. Signup + Every Saturday The Watchlist Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we’ve got you covered. Signup + Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter In the wake of OpenAI’s debacle with the US Department of War, a lead of its robotics division has left the company, with a warning left on her X account for the AI company. In it, Caitlin Kalinowski says, “This wasn’t an easy call. AI has an important role in national security. But surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization are lines that deserved more deliberation than they got.”For context on that resignation, two weeks ago, Anthropic and the US Department of War had a falling out as the former refused to remove safeguards on its AI tools for use in weaponry and mass surveillance. In response, OpenAI stepped up to the plate to take the deal. Sam Altman did later clarify “we shouldn’t have rushed to get this out on Friday”, and that the Department of War wouldn’t use OpenAI’s tool in US intelligence agencies like the NSA.At the time, Altman said: “There are many things the technology just isn’t ready for, and many areas we don’t yet understand the tradeoffs required for safety. We will work through these, slowly, with the DoW, with technical safeguards and other methods.”Article continues below You may like Anthropic is standing up to the US Department of War and refusing to remove AI autonomous weapon and