OPENAI HIRES DAN DRISCOLL FOR NATIONAL SECURITY ROLE

OpenAI announced on Monday that it had created a new role, Senior Counselor for National Security Modernisation, appointing Dan Driscoll, the former US Army Secretary. Driscoll will advise OpenAI's leadership on using AI to strengthen national and cyber security, with a focus on helping US allies adopt it responsibly. He said AI "will help them keep pace by cutting through paperwork, making sense of more information, and getting the right answer to the right person faster." OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said the appointment would help the United States seize "an extraordinary opportunity to work with other countries to spread the adoption of democratic AI."

Driscoll resigned as Army Secretary earlier this year after tensions with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that Politico reported had stretched over several months. Politico said the disagreements centred on initiatives to modernise the Army, and cited the dismissal of figures such as Army Chief of Staff Randy George. Driscoll is a longtime friend of Vice President JD Vance, whom he met at Yale Law School. He served in Iraq in 2009, receiving the Army Commendation Medal and the Combat Action Badge. Before the Pentagon, he worked at Charlotte, North Carolina investment bank BlackArch Partners.

At the Pentagon, Driscoll pushed to modernise the US military, including expanding allied access to drone and counter-drone technology. In his new role, he will work with OpenAI's senior leadership and external partners on the use of AI in national security. Driscoll said "national security requirements are changing faster than at any time in the past fifty years." OpenAI said the appointment reflects its focus on working with government and allied institutions on AI's responsible use.