OpenAI decided to preview its new AI models with the U.S. government before launch and now restricts access to trusted partners only. The government asked them to do this. The company that spent years positioning itself as the vanguard of open artificial intelligence now operates like a defense contractor with a PR team.
The phrase "trusted partners" does heavy lifting here. It means people who won't immediately use the models to generate fake State of the Union addresses or whatever keeps Sam Altman up at 3am. Regular users don't qualify as trusted. You understand. You might do something irresponsible with advanced AI, like ask it to explain your brokerage statement.
Previewing capabilities with the government ahead of launch sounds reasonable until you remember this is the same government that needed seventeen hearings to understand how Facebook makes money. The technical briefing probably went great. Very informative. Lots of nodding. Someone definitely asked if the AI could help them print emails.
OpenAI says the restrictions protect national security. Makes sense. Can't have foreign adversaries accessing ChatGPT-7 or whatever they're calling it this week. Much better to limit it to trusted partners who will definitely not screenshot everything and post it to Discord within forty-eight hours. Airtight plan.
Retail traders heard "limited access" and immediately assumed this means the AI predicts stock prices. It does not. It never will. But that won't stop someone from paying $200 a month for enterprise access just to ask it which semiconductor stock to buy. The AI will give a thoughtful answer about conducting proper due diligence and diversification. The trader will ignore all of it and buy call options on whatever company name sounds coolest.
The funniest part is calling this a partnership with the government, as if OpenAI had a choice. When the federal government requests you do something, that's not a partnership. That's a polite kidnapping with excellent benefits.
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