OpenAI has appointed retired U.S. Army General Paul M. Nakasone, the former director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and head of U.S. Cyber Command, to its Board of Directors. The high-profile appointment, announced on Thursday, places one of the nation’s most senior former intelligence officials at the heart of the world’s leading artificial intelligence company.
Nakasone will join the board’s Safety and Security Committee, a group recently formed to oversee the development and protection of OpenAI’s powerful AI models. This move is widely seen as a direct response to growing concerns from policymakers and former employees about the potential risks posed by advanced AI. OpenAI stated that Nakasone’s “unparalleled experience in cybersecurity” will be critical in protecting the company’s systems and responsibly managing the deployment of its technology.
The appointment comes at a crucial time for OpenAI. The company has faced a series of high-profile departures from its safety and alignment teams, including co-founder Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike, who publicly warned that “safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products.” By bringing in Nakasone, OpenAI is sending a clear message that it is prioritizing the security and integrity of its AI models, especially as they become more capable and integrated into critical infrastructure.
Bret Taylor, Chair of OpenAI’s board, commented that Nakasone’s insights will help the company “better achieve its mission of ensuring artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.” Nakasone’s role on the Safety and Security Committee will involve making critical recommendations on how to protect OpenAI’s technology from increasingly sophisticated bad actors and potential misuse, a challenge that aligns directly with his extensive background in national and digital security.
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