OpenAI Hires Ex-Army Secretary Dan Driscoll for Defense Role

OpenAI on November 2, 2026 named Dan Driscoll, the former Army secretary, as senior counselor for national security modernization. Mark Esper, a former defense secretary, was named the same day as strategic advisor for military AI initiatives. Driscoll had resigned in August after tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and earlier took part in Trump-directed talks with Moscow and Kyiv on ending the Ukraine war. In a statement, Driscoll said he is joining OpenAI to help the United States and our allies put this technology to work responsibly, for the people who keep us safe. In February 2026 OpenAI said ChatGPT would roll out on GenAI.mil for up to 3 million users and signed a deal to deploy models in classified environments. That agreement reportedly bars mass domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons. Unclassified defense contracts are worth up to $200 million. OpenAI removed military and warfare bans from its usage policies in 2024. Contested: no factual disputes among the rated outlets. No right-rated coverage was found.