OpenAI Face Mass Boycott After Granting The Government AI-Driven Mass Surveillance...

Artificial intelligence is a technology

that of course impacts gaming in a lot

of ways, but it's also much bigger than

just gaming. It is a technology that is

incredibly powerful that has the

potential to impact just about every

industry on this planet. And it's

important to talk about the lines that

need to be drawn as well as the moral

implications of companies who pursue AI

based on the methodologies with which

they're pursuing that technology, the

actions that they kind of partake in and

the words that they speak. And OpenAI in

particular is one of the biggest factors

in this conversation due to I mean just

how early they got into this race and

the amount of impact that they've had

and a lot of that impact many people

believe to be rather negative. Open AAI,

you know, from the way they've

completely wrecked the computing

components market uh due to their

pursuit of essentially hoarding

components to try to save off

competition to try to stay ahead of the

race and uh kind of uh pursuing their

ambitions at all costs combined with the

irresponsible ways in which this

technology is being used in such a way

that it's negatively impacting the

environment. It's negatively impacting

artists. It's negatively impacting the

very people that AI technology is

advertised to benefit as something that

is supposed to like enhance humans. But

in reality, it's a technology that is

replacing humans. It's negatively

impacting just the the way

misinformation has become so prevalent.

It all paves to a road where the public

is beginning to realize that AI

companies don't necessarily have our

best interests in mind. They would like

to see these companies just suffer a

downfall that will hopefully signal a

rejection of abusive ways of using this

technology or exploitative ways or ways

that ultimately just fuel further class

divides, fuel just further empowerment

of corporations and you know just uh a

deployment of this technology that isn't

ultimately beneficial to society as a

whole. Now, I've talked a lot about

OpenAI over the last couple of months,

and I'd like to give you the latest

update on where this company is at.

They're continuing to bleed money. The

PR surrounding the company just keeps

getting worse. And now, we're getting to

a point where the world is starting to

kind of like boycott Open AI due to some

of the stances that they've recently

taken. Lately, you might be seeing

plenty of headlines such as this one.

cancel GPT movement goes mainstream

after opening I closes deal with the US

Department of War as Enthropic refuses

to surveil. So that's going to be the

main topic of today's video. I'm going

to kind of walk you through everything

that's transpired on that front. But

yeah, you can see scrolling down all the

embedded posts that highlight people

just straight off showing their canceled

subscriptions. And this is a movement

that's gained tons of traction. I think

much more than maybe even OpenAI

anticipated. You've already seen CEO Sam

Altman talk about how people unfairly

judge AI for how much energy it consumes

because human beings consume a lot of

energy in order to train them and raise

them and whatnot, which was just so

incredibly dehumanizing. But then we

have development surrounding how OpenAI

is basically willing to make a deal with

anyone that will give them the money to

be able to support their endeavors due

to the incredibly fast rate at which

they're burning money to a point where

revenue just doesn't seem like it's able

to catch up. And so this latest story

concerns the US government and the way

artificial intelligence again we're

going far beyond just gaming. It has a

huge impact on gaming, but also on

things like surveillance and things

like, you know, weapons. It should come

as no surprise that the Pentagon and the

military are interested in artificial

intelligence. And not long ago, I talked

about this developing situation where

Anthropic was essentially threatened

because they would not forego certain

lines that they drew in the sand. namely

that Enthropic, one of OpenAI's main

rivals, straight up told the US

government who were interested in

working with Anthropic and utilizing

their technology, that they would not

allow for the mass surveillance of

Americans with the usage of their

artificial intelligence and that they

would not allow for the development of

fully autonomous weaponry. Basically,

Enthropic made the stance of like our

technology is incredibly powerful and we

do believe there is some responsibility

to ensure that this technology is not

used for nefarious purposes or for

really destructive purposes. The

Pentagon did not like that moral stance

and so they threatened to essentially

deem Enthropic a national security risk

or a supply chain risk which would mean

that anyone who wants to work with the

US government would not be able to work

with Enthropic and would essentially put

Enthropic in a very precarious situation

from a business standpoint. The threat

being either you do what we want and you

allow us to use your technology in any

way, shape or form the way we deem it

appropriate to use it or we screw over

your company. So those talks were

ongoing for a while with reports from

February 14th to February 16th

highlighting that whole ongoing

situation and talks behind the scenes

and then that kind of came to a head on

February 26, 2026 when Enthropic

released the following statement in

regards to discussions with the

Department of War. And in this

statement, Enthropic basically

highlights how they will not allow for

the mass domestic surveillance of

citizens as well as the development of

fully autonomous weapons with their AI

technology. And that's a line that they

are not going to back away from. And the

end result was that the current

administration in the United States

ordered all federal agencies in the US

government to immediately stop using

anthropics technology. Basically saying,

"We're done doing business with you

because you dared draw some lines in the

sand in terms of ensuring that this

technology isn't abused." And all of

that does relate to the latest

development surrounding OpenAI who

recently got in bed with the US

government in regards to this particular

issue. Now, just the day after Enthropic

made their stance clear, CEO of OpenAI,

Sam Alultman, came on the news and

seemed to express like uh a respect for

Enthropic stance and almost seem to

suggest that he would kind of back a

similar ideal, saying that for all the

differences I have with Anthropic, I

mostly trust them as a company and I

think they really do care about safety.

And the way this was interpreted is that

OpenAI is drawing the same lines that

Anthropic are. AI as a technology

already feels like it's crossed multiple

lines and multiple like boundaries that

many people feel shouldn't be crossed

but the ultimate line is things like

surveillance of mass citizens and use of

this powerful technology for automated

weapons and anthropic said no we are

absolutely not giving in to those kinds

of demands and Sam Alman seemed to be in

the space of like I respect that and

that initially indicated to people that

Sam Alman would basically follow in

anthropics footsteps when it comes to

this specific issue. But on February

27th, 2026, he straight up came out and

basically highlighted how Sam Alman and

OpenAI basically caved to the demands of

the US government and ultimately decided

to lend their technology. Now, he tries

to paint a more positive picture trying

to say that he also draws lines and that

the technology the way to be used by the

US government uh will not allow for the

crossing of those lines. But the fact

that Enthropic was shunned by the US

government despite having worked with

them for so long and then replaced by

OpenAI, I think only highlights that

there is definitely some kind of give

that OpenAI had that Anthropic did. And

it's clear that certain compromises were

made when it comes to drawing lines in

the sand that made the US government

happy enough to work with OpenAI over

Anthropic. So here's how Sam Alman

phrases it. Tonight, we reached an

agreement with the Department of War to

deploy our models in their classified

network. In all of our interactions, the

DO displayed a deep respect for safety

and a desire to partner to achieve the

best possible outcome. And Sam Alman

specifically highlights how he takes it

very seriously to ensure important

safety principles such as prohibitions

on domestic mass surveillance as well as

humans responsibility for the use of

force, including for autonomous weapon

systems. the DO agrees with these

principles, reflects them in law and

policy, and we put them into our

agreement. But if that's the case, then

why wouldn't they just agree to

anthropics lines that they drew in the

sand? Why would they shun Anthropic to

the degree that they have? If Sam Alman

is insisting that the Department of War

agrees with the principles of not using

AI for mass domestic surveillance or

using AI for essentially autonomous

weapon systems, the only reason the US

government would work with Sam Alman and

OpenAI over Enthropic is that Sam Alman

and OpenAI made some concessions when it

comes to giving the Department of War

and the US government just a lot more

freedom than Enthropic would have when

it comes to how AI technology is used.

So, a lot of people are taking to

essentially admonishing Sam Alman and

OpenAI, and they've they were already

like not particularly popular, but now

that's been taken to a whole new level.

In fact, community notes already saying

things like government officials have

contradicted Sam's claim, saying OpenAI

will allow the DO or Department of War

to use their models for all lawful

purposes. This could allow for uses

Enthropic refuse to engage in, namely

mass surveillance tools and weapon

systems with no human oversight.

Basically, if the US government comes up

with a reason for why it's lawful to use

Open AI to engage in mass surveillance

domestically or to use AI for autonomous

weapons, then they're allowed to do

that. It's basically like a loophole, a

loophole that OpenAI was willing to

grant them that Enthropic wasn't. And

what this has ultimately done is tanked

OpenAI's popularity. In fact, looking at

the quote tweets to Sam Alman's post

here, declaring that he's reached an

agreement with the Department of War and

that he values the principles of

prohibiting mass surveillance and

autonomous weapons with the use of AI.

Here's somebody quote tweeting with one

of the most popular posts on this

matter, saying, "Sam Alman is such an

incredible backsabber, liar, and trader.

While your competitor is taking a heroic

and principal stand, you soup in to make

your deal. Imagine working for this guy.

Is there greater shame? This should lead

to a mass exodus from open AI. And then

beyond that, you've got plenty of people

talking about how they predicted that

this would be the endgame of AI. This

would be kind of its most egregious use.

Things like military and mass

surveillance and development of weapons.

This is a technology that already felt

incredibly dangerous when it comes to

like the way it's being used to replace

workers rather than to give workers

tools to be able to better do their

work. the way it's stealing art and

replacing artists and the way its

quality output is inconsistent and you

know unreliable enough that becoming

fully dependent on AI might lead to just

a lot of headaches. But now to see this

on a level where it'll directly have an

impact on things like our privacy and

just the state of the world given how

powerful weapons are becoming and how AI

could just kind of make it that much

more precarious. This just highlights

how corporations think. Gaming companies

will tell you that AI will be used to

enhance artists and essentially to

support artists, but we're seeing plenty

of evidence of corporations doing the

exact opposite, just straight up trying

to cheapen out on human labor and trying

to replace them with AI to essentially

engage in cost cutting measures to be

able to output faster regardless of

quality and artistry just for the sake

of profits. And now with someone like

Sam Alman, we're seeing just how easily

someone like this individual is just

willing to sacrifice and forego all

principles and all manner of integrity.

The way he spoke of humans as if they

drain energy instead of, you know,

speaking of humanity as the point of

doing anything, you know, bettering

humanity as a whole for our survival and

our collective collaboration to be able

to kind of foster a better future. That

already told me everything I need to

know about him. But the way he just

quickly swooped in and took Enthropic's

place when Enthropic was making a stand

because his pursuit for money, his

ambitions far outweigh any semblance of

morality. All of this just really

highlights how you cannot trust anyone

who tells you, especially on a corporate

executive level, that AI will be used to

empower humans and to try to make

society better, to try to make products

better, to try to make the people who

work on the products just more

productive and to give them tools to

make their work easier and better. You

can't just trust that anymore. And if

you want to learn more about the way

OpenAI cave to the Pentagon on AI

surveillance, this article from The

Verge is a good read. But it basically

highlights how weak Sam Alman's promise

of prohibiting mass surveillance and

prohibiting the development of

autonomous weapons through AI is when

you really look at what this deal is and

when you look at the way it is

highlighted that AI open AI can be used

for all lawful purposes which again it's

just about loopholes that allow them to

say words that feel really positive and

feel really like morally upstanding but

in reality like there are countless ways

to ensure that this technology can

ultimately be abused. Here's someone who

kind of summarized the Verge's article

pretty aptly. Basically, OpenAI agreed

to follow laws that have allowed for

mass surveillance in the past while

insisting they protect its red lines

that are incredibly weak. Basically,

OpenAI is full of and they may well

turn over everything you ever typed into

Chat GPT if the US government asks. And

keep in mind that with chat GPT, people

kind of apply to it a level of cander, a

level of honesty and openness that

allows for just like an extreme level of

psychological profiling because what

people type into chat GBT, the queries

that they ask it informs a lot about

that individual. The fact that they were

doing targeted ads through chat GPT,

that was already like shady enough. But

now to see it go up a whole other level

where you know government entities can

use this technology for mass

surveillance and to just kind of get to

know you on a very intimate level that

would make you uncomfortable if you

really knew what was going on. Yeah, it

doesn't shock me that powerful tools

like these are primed to be abused due

to a lack of regulations and just due to

a lack of like moral foresight when it

comes to all the egregious ways in which

this technology can be used which is

being advertised as good for society.

But that only applies when the

technology is actually used for good

purposes. But you know, it's ri for

abuse right now. And what this has meant

for OpenAI in the eyes of the public is

that there's actually been a mass

boycott of OpenAI and its services.

Right here we have an X news headline

saying cloud app tops App Store after

OpenAI's DODO backlash. And you can

actually see screenshots of this. Once

upon a time, Chat TPT was number one.

And now you can see Claude is very

quickly catching up. And eventually

Claude did in fact catch up as people

decided to forego chat GBT for clawed by

Anthropic instead due to the fact that

Anthropic actually decided to draw lines

in the sand and despite threats from the

US government they actually like held to

those standards. They actually held that

moral line and to really highlight what

a big deal that is before all this cloud

was at number 131 on the app store in

late January and now it is at number one

this weekend. their integrity move ended

up actually rewarding them and they also

took great advantage of this whole

situation. Enthropic response saw that

attention ship memory on the free plan

make the free tier stickier at the exact

moment millions of new users are

flooding in. And then beyond that,

instead of letting their designation of

supply chain risk just kind of crumble

them, integrity ultimately ended up

rewarding them with K. Perry posting her

claw pro subscription, Reddit organizing

mass chat GPT cancellations, 700 plus

employees at Google and OpenAI signing

an open letter backing Enthropic's

position. What was supposed to be this

punishment from the government,

Enthropic transformed into an

opportunity converted into the largest

consumer acquisition event in AI history

that immediately shipped product to

retain every new user walking through

the door. Now, I'm not trying to label

Anthropic as like the good guys. I think

all AI companies right now in the way

they're pursuing and racing towards

being the dominant in this technological

space like Enthropic is just as guilty

in many other areas when it comes to how

uh they're pursuing this technology

without really thinking about the

consequences without regard for how all

this negatively impacts the masses, the

public, the economy, uh the environment,

the artists, so on and so forth. But at

the very least, they're willing to draw

some lines here and there because they

recognize that if AI falls into the

wrong hands, it could be so incredibly

destructive and cataclysmic. But of

course, there will be some companies who

don't care about those things, who won't

draw those lines as long as they get to

make a profit and be able to realize

their ambitions regardless of the cost

that is associated with that, where

their ambitions outweigh any thought

about, you know, the concept of humanity

and working together so that we can

thrive together and move forward towards

a better future together. But that's not

at all on Sam Alman's minds and it

clearly shows. But yeah, basically tons

of people have decided to drop Open AI

and so Sam Alman seeing the backlash,

seeing the negative PR is deciding to

add further responses and trying to

swatch people's concerns. He tried to

host an AMA where he tried to sympathize

with people and talked about how there

are scary precedents that are being set

with the department of war and the way

they're blacklisting anthropic and any

company that doesn't work with them and

allow them full autonomy over these

powerful technologies that could be

abused. He insists that he holds the

government responsible for these kinds

of actions. And when asked about what

happens if the government tries to

nationalize open AI or other AI efforts,

he said, "I obviously don't know. I have

thought about it. Of course, it has

seemed to me for a long time it might be

better if building AGI were a government

project, but it doesn't seem super

likely on the current trajectory. That

said, I do think a close partnership

between governments and the companies

building this technology is super

important. Even if he is being honest,

what this highlights is he hasn't really

fully thought about the consequences of

just signing this kind of like deal with

the devil where his incredibly powerful

technology is just given away to be used

for lawful purposes where loopholes will

allow that technology to be used.

However, the US government or entities

like the Department of War deems,

including in ways that the mass public

would absolutely would never approve of,

but they just have that power now

because Sam Alman handed that power to

them. Sam Alman's attempts to assuage

the fears of the public or to try to

build himself as like more morally

upstanding, it just hasn't been panning

out because the morally upstanding thing

to do would have been to not accept a

deal that will allow unfettered use of

such a powerful technology and

potentially in really abusive and

destructive ways. Basically taking the

stance that Enthropic did, but OpenAI

didn't. And so yeah, I mean this is a

company that essentially has a cloud

looming over it when it comes to the

negative PR and the negative optics in

the eyes of the public. I surmise that

ultimately the real reason Open AI

signed this deal with the government

wasn't because they believe in a

collaboration that could pave the road

towards a better future, whatever. Open

AAI just basically is desperate right

now. They need to sign any and every

deal possible that will bring them

billions in order to be able to weather

the rate at which they're burning money.

They will basically take money from any

source because otherwise they will go

under. This is a company that right now

is basically built on a house of cards.

I mean relationships are strained from

how Star AI data centers for OpenAI

reportedly delayed by squables between

partners. There's a report from the

information that was transcribed by

Tom's Hardware. The article says that

sources say OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank

disagreed on who would have ultimate

control of the planned data centers.

Here's somebody else adding that

basically we're looking at clashes over

control, marathon negotiations fueled by

7-Eleven in Tokyo, financing push back,

and a quiet pullback from OpenAI

building its own data centers for now.

And all the while, OpenAI is going

around trying to secure as much funding

as possible. And their latest funding

round, they were able to secure around

hundred billion, which you would think

would be enough to make them secure for

a long time to come. But AI as a

technology to build and to power and to

maintain is so freaking expensive that

this money that will burn away really

quick. A hundred billion dollars is

still nowhere near enough for OpenAI to

be secure about its financial future. I

mean, we got reports like this one from

the information from February 20th,

2026, highlighting how OpenAI has

boosted its revenue forecast, but are

still predicting $112 billion more cash

burn through 2030. Plenty of analysts

are discussing how based on everything

they're seeing, there's not a single

thing about OpenAI that makes it look

financially sustainable for the long

term. Here's an analysis that OpenAI

could face bankruptcy within 2 years.

With paid subscribers remaining at only

about 5% of total users, OpenAI faces a

real risk due to billions in operating

costs against a limited return and a

continued reliance on funding and

investments. And that's why they signed

that deal with the US government

regardless of what their moral stances

are because moral stance has to go out

the window in order for open AI to

survive because they created a business

model that is so unsustainable. So

they're they'll rely on the US

government and on entities who seek to

use their technology for destructive

purposes as long as they get their

funding. Here's another analysis from

George Noble, who's been in the

investing space for a while and has made

a name for himself on that front,

talking about how basically Sam Alman,

CEO of OpenAI, just convinced three of

the world's smartest investors to fund

his losses, $110 billion, but zero

profit insight. And the numbers are

broken down here, but basically, it's

looking incredibly bleak with this whole

kind of post and analysis ending with

this can't end well. And then on top of

that, beyond the negative press that

OpenAI continues to receive and with the

latest developments resulting in OpenAI

being boycott by the masses to the point

where Enthropic is kind of being put up

on a pedestal over open AI because at

least they had some moral integrity to

draw some lines and to not cave to

pressure from powerful entities like the

government. On top of all that, plenty

of people talking about how there is a

real backlash against AI and it's

winning with the masses disrupting the

building of AI data centers. And

apparently, this is an issue that's

uniting people across all kinds of

spectrums when it comes to beliefs and

ideals. Very differing groups have found

common ground and a common enemy in the

way AI has been proliferating and the

way it's been doing so in just ways that

people do not see the benefit. And in

fact, they see the opposite. They see

its destructive capabilities and the

dehumanizing element that AI brings to

the table with the way corporations will

not use this technology to empower

humans, but to take advantage of humans

to try to replace humans in order to

pursue further profits and to be able to

rise further for just an an even more

extensive class divide. Yeah, the

article is right here. You can check it

out for yourself. some interesting

discussions about all of the ways in

which the masses, the public have

disrupted artificial intelligence

endeavors. Though of course this is a

technology that has a lot of powerful

backing surrounding it and continues to

march forward at a rapid pace at a pace

that feels too rapid for what uh society

as a whole can morally handle. There are

reports talking about how the contrast

between the dotcom boom and the AI boom

is very apparent. People actually did

like the.com boom because the internet

ultimately did feel like a very

beneficial invention. It's not perfect.

It's got its drawbacks, but ultimately

it felt more beneficial than not. The AI

boom, however, not so much. It's nowhere

near as beloved. The internet feels like

something that was meant for all of us,

whereas AI feels like a technology meant

to be used against the masses for the

betterment of a select few. And what

this ultimately does is compromises the

ability for this technology to be mass

accepted and mass adopted at a level

that AI companies will feel comfortable

with at a level that will allow them to

finally make a profit instead of just

burn money. And then beyond that, from a

usefulness capacity, there were reports

highlighting how thousands of CEOs

admitted AI had no impact on employment

or productivity. So all the promise

about how AI will enhance workflows and

just make everything more efficient,

will empower people's capabilities, so

on and so forth. None of that is panning

out, which means its mass adoption is

going to be that much more difficult

because the technology just isn't doing

what it's what it promised to do. And

then there's the fact that AI just

breaks all kinds of copyright laws with

OpenAI's own CEO Sam Alman straight up

admitting that it's virtually impossible

to develop advanced AI models like Chat

GBT without some form of copyrighted

content. And already we've seen

companies like Disney and Warner

Brothers and many others start to sue AI

companies because yeah that technology

is being used to create basically you

know videos and images from characters

that uh are being deployed in a way that

is attracting a lot of attention. People

are just straight up making movies with

properties that don't belong to them

because technologies like chat GBT and

all these AI models enable that without

seeking permission from the copyright

holders without seeking permission from

the people who they're stealing work

from. And then economically, AI

basically added zero to the US's

economic growth due to the fact that AI

is being built off of components bought

overseas. You know, all those chips that

they need that they're hoarding, all

that comes pretty much from overseas.

that stuff's not manufactured in the US.

So if anything, all these US companies

pursuing AI are boosting other countries

economies and are, you know, basically

tanking the US's by creating this bubble

and engaging in mass expenditures with

the hopes of profit that may very well

not pan out due to the rate with which

they have to spend money in order to

make this technology possible. So yeah,

when you look at just how poorly OpenAI

is doing from a public perception

standpoint, from a financial standpoint,

from a viability standpoint, from just

like an infrastructure standpoint, it's

suddenly not that difficult to figure

out why OpenAI would sign a deal with

the devil. It's basically because

they're that desperate. They're so

desperate that they're willing to forgo

any semblance of morality and any

semblance of foresight when it comes to

how that technology could be used for

destructive purposes or for privacy

invading purposes. Sam Alman and Open

Air are just so desperate to survive

that they'll make these kinds of deals

and try to justify it in any which way

and it's not working. Anyone who's

willing to go this far to realize their

ambitions, anyone who's willing to

sacrifice everything to basically keep

their company alive, especially a

company that is dying because of their

own business model of their own making,

that is someone you can never trust.

OpenAI's actions have already had like a

direct impact on the gaming landscape as

a whole. But again, now it's becoming

far bigger than that and now it's

becoming again it's truly becoming

existential in terms of the questions

that we have to start asking ourselves

about the capabilities of this

technology. It started with negative

impacts on computing components and

electronics like gaming devices, but now

it's expanded to a point where like the

picture is even much bigger than that.

And gamers in particular are already

looking forward to the downfall of Open

AI because of the adverse impacts that

they've had on the economy of gaming

electronics. The uh just the state of

artistry in general, the poorer quality

outputs. Like AI is just not a

technology that is favored very much by

the gaming community. But how little you

can trust these executives to actually

look out for us to try to make all this

about benefiting humanity and uh

benefiting the mediums that they're

being employed in and whatnot. uh just

the complete inability to trust these

executives uh who have this power to

deploy this technology is not

particularly surprising but it's still

good to have that reaffirmation so we

can continue to keep our eyes peeled for

you know the words that executives will

use to try to justify the implementation

or rather the poor and the more abusive

or exploitative implementation of AI

technology while having every intention

to screw over the public the masses the

artists the workers and everyone who

isn't just the executives trying to make

money. And that, ladies and gentlemen,

is kind of my take on the latest

surrounding OpenAI. I'd love to hear

what your thoughts and opinions are on

all this in the comments below. And to

be further updated on all things gaming

news, reviews, and discussions, stay

tuned right here on Yong. Yeah. I'll see

you guys next time.

Yong.