--- title: "Edward Snowden Says OpenAI Just Performed a “Calculated Betrayal of the Rights of Every Person on Earth”" description: "\"You've Been Warned\" Last week, ChatGPT creator OpenAI announced that it had appointed retired US Army General and former National Security Administration (NSA) Director Paul Nakasone, who also helmed the military's cybersecurity-focused Cyber Command unit, to its board. \"General Nakasone's unparalleled experience in areas like cybersecurity,\" OpenAI board chair Bret Taylor said in a statement, […]" date: "2024-06-17" modified: "2024-06-17" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/snowden-openai-calculated-betrayal" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "cybersecurity" - "edward snowden" - "OpenAI" - "the digest" --- # Edward Snowden Says OpenAI Just Performed a “Calculated Betrayal of the Rights of Every Person on Earth” ![OpenAI just named former NSA director Paul Nakasone to its board. Infamous NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, for one, had some thoughts.]() *\Image: Piaras Ó Mídheach / Sportsfile for Web Summit via Getty / Futurism\* ## "You've Been Warned" Last week, ChatGPT creator OpenAI announced that it had appointed retired US Army General and former National Security Administration (NSA) Director Paul Nakasone, who also helmed the military's cybersecurity-focused Cyber Command unit, to its board. "General Nakasone's unparalleled experience in areas like cybersecurity," OpenAI board chair Bret Taylor [said in a statement](), "will help guide OpenAI in achieving its mission of ensuring artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity." But not everyone is thrilled about Nakasone's new role at the AI firm, which will also see the former general seated at OpenAI's Safety and Security Committee. The NSA has long been [associated with surveillance of US citizens](), and AI-embedded technologies are already renewing and escalating existing surveillance concerns. With that in mind, it might be unsurprising that former NSA employee and famed whistleblower Edward Snowden is among the OpenAI appointment's outspoken detractors. "They've gone full mask off: **do not ever** trust OpenAI or its products," Snowden — emphasis his — wrote in a [Friday post to X-formerly-Twitter](), adding that "there's only one reason for appointing" an NSA director "to your board." "This is a willful, calculated betrayal of the rights of every person on earth," he continued. "You've been warned." ## Transparency Worries Snowden wasn't the only prominent cybersecurity figure to raise an eyebrow at the OpenAI news. "I do think that the biggest application of AI is going to be mass population surveillance," Johns Hopkins University cryptography professor Matthew Green tweeted, "so bringing the former head of the NSA into OpenAI has some solid logic behind it." Nakasone's installation comes after a series of high-profile OpenAI departures that included prominent safety researchers, in addition to the total dissolution of OpenAI's now-defunct "[Superalignment]()" safety team. OpenAI's [replacement]() for that team, the Safety and Security Committee, is now helmed by company CEO Sam Altman, who has [come under fire]() in recent weeks for business practices that involved [silencing former employees](). It's also worth noting that OpenAI has routinely drawn criticism for — again — its lack of [transparency]() regarding the [data used]() to train its many AI models. But at the same time, [per *Axios*](), many on Capitol Hill see Nakasone's OpenAI assensure as a security win. And Nakasone, for his part, said in a statement that OpenAI's "dedication to its mission aligns closely with my own values and experience in public service." "I look forward to contributing to OpenAI's efforts," he added, "to ensure artificial general intelligence is safe and beneficial to people around the world." **More on AI and surveillance:** [*Microsoft Admits That Maybe Surveiling Everything You Do on Your Computer Isn’t a Brilliant Idea*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()