The 'QuitGPT' movement gains steam as OpenAI's Department of War deal has users saying 'Cancel ChatGPT'

The AI landscape is highly competitive, with several companies fighting for users' attention (and ultimately money). While ChatGPT has become the household name in the AI space (much like Google is to search), the power dynamic could be shifting, with a "Cancel ChatGPT" movement gaining attention.

OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, posted on X last night that his company has reached an agreement with the United States Department of War "to deploy our models in their classified network." He continued, "In all of our interactions, the DoW displayed a deep respect for safety and a desire to partner to achieve the best possible outcome."

But users don't seem excited to take his claim at face value, and it's hard to blame them. OpenAI just claimed solidarity with rival Anthropic when it refused to allow its products to be used for "Mass domestic surveillance" or "Fully autonomous weapons." But it’s possible this solidarity was just an opportunity for OpenAI to strike its own deal and potentially let the DOW run wild with its tech in ways that could include surveillance of U.S. citizens.

In a blog post, Anthropic said, "The Department of War has stated they will only contract with AI companies who accede to 'any lawful use' and remove safeguards in the cases mentioned above," and Altman's post implies that OpenAI is okay with the government using its tools, which under certain segments of the Patriot Act could quite easily lead to the mass surveillance of U.S. citizens as part of provisions on surveiling foreign citizens.

Cancel your ChatGPT Plus, burn their compute on the way out, and switch to Claude from r/ChatGPT

So users are responding in the only way that can actually hurt OpenAI: with their wallets. The "Cancel ChatGPT" movement is spreading and seemingly hitting the massive AI firm in its bank account. Of course, it's hard to gauge how widespread the cancellations are — it could be the vocal minority posting to Reddit and X while the bulk of ChatGPT users carry on, blissfully unaware that their data could be used by the Department of War.

But while OpenAI is the internet's crosshairs at the moment (and Anthropic is getting all of the praise), it's worth noting that OpenAI isn't the only one okay with letting its AI services be used for potential surveillance and autonomous weapons.

For example, Google removed an explicit ban on the technology from its internal rules last year, leaving Gemini open to such potential uses. Amazon only offers a vague "responsible use" language in its documentation.

The leaders of the AI race have a lot of power in their hands, and while Altman said, "We remain committed to serve all of humanity as best we can. The world is a complicated, messy, and sometimes dangerous place," it's hard to take him at his word with decisions like these.

I don't know about you, but the idea of ChatGPT or any other AI model deciding it's seen me commit a crime when it hallucinates, even with some of the most basic prompts, is rather scary. And the idea that it would control missiles and determine targets is even scarier.

Sure, Altman claims, "We also will build technical safeguards to ensure our models behave as they should, which the DoW also wanted," but does that make you feel any better about what's happening here? It sure doesn't help me sleep any better.

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