Our approach to government and national security partnerships

OpenAI announced its National Security Principles on July 8, 2026, to provide transparency into how it approaches government partnerships and national security uses of its technology. The principles reflect a cross-company effort to develop a more comprehensive approach to work in national security and law enforcement as technology advances. OpenAI engaged national security expert David Kris to facilitate the process and provide independent judgment, held listening sessions across the company, and involved employees from research, safety, policy, and government partnerships teams. The principles are being published as OpenAI expands work with the U.S. government and allied partners in critical defensive areas, particularly cyber and biosecurity. In the past month, as part of the Daybreak cyber defense program, OpenAI established Trusted Access for Cyber partnerships with Australia, Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, France, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, and EU institutions like ENISA. OpenAI also has a growing trusted partnership with the UK government around cyber, testing, and evaluation. A similar approach is being taken in biosecurity. Last month, OpenAI announced expanded trusted access to its GPT-Rosalind model for select U.S. government and allied partners supporting public health and biodefense missions. The principles apply to current and future national security and law enforcement partnerships, including existing work with the Department of War. When the agreement was announced earlier this year, OpenAI articulated contractual restrictions: no use of its technology for mass domestic surveillance, no use to direct autonomous weapons systems, and no use for high-stakes automated decisions. OpenAI believes the right approach is to be clear about how its technology can and cannot be used and to be transparent about them. The company supports legislative efforts to establish safeguards around high-risk military uses of AI, including domestic surveillance, autonomous weapons systems, and other uses directly affecting U.S. national security.