ChatGPT developer OpenAI has announced the launch of ChatGPT Gov, a platform built specifically for the US government to use.
The company said this is a more secure "tailored" version of its GPT enterprise product, allowing workers from government agencies to feed “non-public, sensitive information” into the chatbot.
"By making our products available to the US government, we aim to ensure AI serves the national interest and the public good, aligned with democratic values, while empowering policymakers to responsibly integrate these capabilities to deliver better services to the American people," OpenAI said in a statement.
Government agency workers can use the ChatGPT Gov chatbot in their own Microsoft Azure commercial cloud or Azure Government cloud on top of Microsoft’s Azure’s service.
Microsoft has invested almost $14 billion into the AI startup since 2019.
OpenAI said it believes the Gov model "will expedite internal authorization of OpenAI’s tools for the handling of non-public sensitive data".
It noted that since the beginning of 2024, more than 90,000 users working for federal, state and local governments have generated more than 18 million prompts within ChatGPT, using the tech for coding, translating and summarizing documents, and drafting memos.
Regarding China’s DeepSeek, OpenAI chief product officer Kevin Weil told reporters that the emergence of the rival AI does not change the US firm's product road map, it serves as a reminder of how high the stakes have become.
"This is a super competitive industry, and this shows that it’s competitive globally, not just within the US," he said. "We're committed to moving really quickly here. We want to stay ahead."