# Mass Surveillance w/ LLMs is the Default Outcome. Contracts Won't Change That.

What's the best case scenario regarding OpenAI's contract w/ the Department of War (DoW)?

*   We have access to the full contract
*   It's airtight
*   OAI's engineers are on top of things in case the DoW breaks the contract
*   There's actual teeth for violations

But even then, the DoW can simply switch vendors. Use Gemini. Use Grok. If these models aren't capable enough, then just wait a year.

In the past[^2s1ap8gkgx5], the DoW has purchased commercial location data, on Americans, w/o warrants. In [recent negotiations](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/inside-anthropics-killer-robot-dispute-with-the-pentagon/686200/?gift=2iIN4YrefPjuvZ5d2Kh30zpPxOtZj8TuGGLnTN11Z-s),[^197x24lo0xq] the DoW wanted to use Claude to analyze existing data. In the future, well, I don't think they'll have a change of heart on the subject.

The only viable option to stop this is to:

Push for Legislation
====================

The main problem is the Third Party Doctrine: a [1979 Supreme Court case](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/442/735/) ruling that you have no privacy regarding 3rd party data. Now it's 2026 where every app on your phone is considered 3rd party data, including your private messages and location.

As long as the government purchases it, it's legal.[^qqylnf38ue9]

However, there have been several attempts to fix this, such as when Senators Ron Wyden (D) & Rand Paul (R) introduced the ****The Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act**** in 2021, which would've added (limited) limitations. Notably it took until *_2024_* to pass the house, but then rejected in the Senate. My read is that this was politically unviable in the past; however, it might work now for a specific carve out on LLM-use. This is currently a big deal to the american people and the potential harm is already verified ([LLMs can already be used to deanonymize](https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.16800)) as well as the current Anthropic-DoW story. Anti-surveillence state is bipartisan.

My read is this is generally politically unviable. But! The Anthropic-DoW story is front-page news, [LLMs can already be used to deanonymize](https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.16800)[,](https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.16800) and anti-surveillance is bipartisan. A narrow carve-out on LLM use might pass.

This leads directly to next steps. If you're \[boycotting OAI\], then the *_ask_* is for them to push/lobby for legislation clearly preventing mass surveillance. Target the Third Party Doctrine or clearly state that AI cannot be used to analyze, assist, or curate data obtained w/o a warrant regardless if it was purchased or incidentally obtained.

It doesn't even need to be a standalone bill, it can be an amendment to eg the [Defense Production Act](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R43767) (DPA) which [expires Sept. 30th](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-news/2026/02/what-to-know-about-defense-protection-act-and-the-pentagons-anthropic-ultimatum/).[^w4vhsn3yi1]

The contract fight buys time, but only a year at most until the DoW can just run opensource models on their own servers. No contract to negotiate. No red lines to draw. No safety guardrails to provide any sort of oversight.

Right now, while this is visible, is the time to push to get this on the legislative agenda.

*_\[Note: this is way out of my expertise. I'm using stronger language than my actual confidence levels for better flow and could totally be naive about basic governance. Let me know of any errors, misconceptions, or any existing sponsors of relevant bills to link\]_*

[^2s1ap8gkgx5]: From this article which are statements(?) from introducing the "4th Amendment Is Not For Sale Act". This article is the one claiming the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) bought the data, where DIA is a part of the DoW. 

[^197x24lo0xq]: From an anonymous source in the Atlantic:"On Friday afternoon, Anthropic learned that the Pentagon still wanted to use the company’s AI to analyze bulk data collected from Americans. That could include information such as the questions you ask your favorite chatbot, your Google search history, your GPS-tracked movements, and your credit-card transactions, all of which could be cross-referenced with other details about your life." 

[^qqylnf38ue9]: Here's a good article on the the history of government's use of 3rd party data 

[^w4vhsn3yi1]: Although the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) looks the most relevant, the deadline for proposals has passed AFAIK