Bangladesh, June 19 -- In a development that signals the deepening convergence of Silicon Valley and the US defense establishment, OpenAI-the maker of the widely known ChatGPT-has signed a $200 million contract with the Pentagon. Announced by the US Department of Defense on June 17, the agreement tasks the company with developing “prototype frontier AI capabilities” to address “critical national security challenges,” in both warfighting and enterprise domains.

While OpenAI frames the deal as part of a broader mission to “defend democracy” amid intensifying technological competition with China, the arrangement has sparked concerns over the role of private AI developers in the militarization of artificia...