OpenAI has appointed former NSA chief and retired general Paul Nakasone to its board of directors. Nakasone's views on intelligence gathering have raised concerns amongst civil liberties activists.
OpenAI has faced heavy criticism for its approach to AI security following the collapse of its Superalignment team and the exodus of security experts.
The company has now established a security committee that can profit from Nakasone's extensive expertise in its efforts to make use of AI to combat cybercrime.
Bret Taylor, CEO of OpenAI, said: “Artificial intelligence has the potential to have an incredible positive impact on people's lives, but it might only realize that potential if these innovations are developed and deployed safely. General Nakasone's unparalleled experience in areas akin to cybersecurity will help OpenAI fulfill its mission of ensuring that artificial general intelligence advantages all of humanity.”
Privacy concerns
Nakasone has impeccable credentials, but his views on intelligence gathering will come under increased scrutiny in his latest position.
During his tenure as director of the NSA, he wrote an opinion piece published within the Washington Post advocating the renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Section 702 sets the parameters for gathering intelligence details about non-U.S. residents while protecting the privacy of U.S. residents.
Although Section 702 is directed at non-U.S. residents outside the United States, incidental capture of communications involving U.S. residents often occurs.
Critics argue that this random data collection could end in significant amounts of knowledge on American residents being collected without judicial authorization.
Nakasone said: “We also needed an affordable method to work with U.S. technology firms whose services were increasingly being exploited by terrorists and other hostile actors abroad to plot against us. That's exactly what Congress made possible in 2008 with the creation of Section 702.”
And now he sits on the board of one among these firms.
In 2023, Nakasone issued a directive to the NSA's Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) division, which is liable for covert surveillance and data collection worldwide.
The directive said that each one people needs to be treated with “dignity and respect,” but then went on to explain how they may very well be spied on.
The policy states: “NSA may collect bulk data provided that it determines that doing so is mandatory to pursue a validated intelligence objective.”
When the policy was published, Evan Greer, director of digital rights advocacy group Fight for the Future, said told The Intercept“It's just like the CIA making a press release that in the long run it’ll only waterboard individuals with dignity and respect. Mass surveillance is fundamentally incompatible with basic human rights and democracy.”
OpenAI will undoubtedly profit from Nakasone's experience in protecting its servers and weights from prying eyes.
However, one has to wonder what impact this move may need on ChatGPT users if one among Nakasone's former NSA colleagues calls in a favor.
