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Openai V-POL

POLITICAL AUDIT UPDATED 2026-05-20
V-POL Score 2.57 /10 C Openai — BDS-1000 448
V-POL 2.57

Evidence-only forensic audit. Scoring happens downstream — see the main dossier for the composite assessment.

V-POL Audit: OpenAI

Corporate Communications & Public Stance

OpenAI has not issued official corporate statements specifically addressing the Israel-Palestine conflict in the manner comparable to statements the company has released regarding other geopolitical matters 1. No matching corporate communications addressing the Gaza conflict or civilian harm specifically attributed to OpenAI have been documented in available public records 1.

Sam Altman participated in a Brookings Institution event in May 2024 discussing AI’s role in the Ukraine-Russia conflict with explicit geopolitical framing 1. Altman visited Israel in June 2023, meeting with President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where he stated that Israel would have a “huge role” in the AI revolution 1. No comparable public statements by Altman specifically addressing the Gaza conflict or civilian harm have been documented 1.

OpenAI’s corporate communications frame Israeli operations as standard market expansion and technology collaboration 1. Altman stated that ongoing collaboration between OpenAI and Israeli entities could lead to “significant advancements” 1.

Operations in Occupied or Contested Territories

No public evidence identified of OpenAI maintaining physical offices, data centers, or direct commercial operations within West Bank settlements, East Jerusalem, or the Golan Heights 1.

OpenAI is not named in the UN OHCHR database of business enterprises linked to Israeli settlements (HRC resolutions 31/36 and 53/25) 1. OpenAI is not named in UN document A/HRC/59/23 (“From economy of occupation to economy of genocide,” Albanese 2025), which extensively documented tech sector complicity and used Azure-GPT-4 integration as a sectoral example 1.

Microsoft Azure provides OpenAI’s GPT-4 language models to Israeli military units, including Unit 8200, Unit 81, Sapir Unit, Ofek Unit, and Matzpen Unit 23. Internal Microsoft documents show a nearly 200-fold increase in commercial AI usage by the Israeli military following October 7, 2023 2. Microsoft holds a confidential $133 million contract with the Israeli military 2. The AI services provided to these military units include translation, OpenAI’s language model (GPT-4), a speech-to-text tool, and an automatic document analysis tool 2.

OpenAI has not been the subject of documented organized BDS campaigns 1. Worker protests at Google (Project Nimbus) and Microsoft (Azure contracts) have targeted Big Tech involvement in Israeli military operations; these protests have not specifically named OpenAI as a primary target 45.

Internal Governance, Content & Retail Policies

No public evidence identified of OpenAI terminating employees for pro-Palestinian speech, symbols, or union activity 1.

OpenAI is a B2B API company and does not operate a consumer social media platform where content moderation asymmetry on Israel-Palestine content would be directly applicable 1. No independent reports, academic studies, or regulatory inquiries specifically documenting algorithmic suppression of pro-Palestinian content on OpenAI’s platforms have been identified 1.

In May 2024, OpenAI disrupted an Israeli government-funded influence operation (STOIC) that used OpenAI tools to generate pro-Israel content targeting U.S. and Canadian audiences 6.

In January 2024, OpenAI removed language from its terms of service that had prohibited use of its AI for “weapons development” and “military and warfare” applications 1.

Brand Heritage & State Partnerships

No public evidence identified of OpenAI utilizing military heritage, defense sector ties, or state-security origins in its commercial branding 1.

In June 2023, Sam Altman visited Israel, meeting with President Herzog, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and the Tel Aviv tech community 1. No evidence of formal corporate sponsorships of state-backed cultural campaigns (such as “Brand Israel”) has been identified 1.

Lobbying, Advocacy, Financing & Logistics

OpenAI’s federal lobbying spending increased from $260,000 in 2023 to $1.76 million in 2024, representing a nearly sevenfold increase 7. In the first half of 2025, OpenAI spent $1.2 million on lobbying, a 44% increase over the same period in 2024 7. Lobbying disclosures show activity on the House AI Advancement and Reliability Act, Senate Future of AI Innovation Act, CREATE AI Act, and AI Foundation Model Transparency Act 7.

No evidence identified of OpenAI lobbying specifically on anti-BDS legislation, Israel trade agreements, or U.S.-Israel bilateral policy 1. OpenAI has opposed AI safety regulations at state and federal levels 1.

No public evidence identified of OpenAI making corporate donations directly to FIDF, JNF/KKL, settlement groups, or military-welfare funds 1. OpenAI does not maintain an employee charitable matching gifts program 1. OpenAI resumed its employee equity-to-charity program in November 2025 after an 18-month suspension; specific recipient organizations are not publicly documented 1.

OpenAI’s nonprofit (EIN 810861541) disbursed $7.6 million in 2024 grants, primarily to AI safety research including the Meridian Institute AI Safety Fund ($1 million) and UC Berkeley ($950,000) 89. No Israel-linked or defense-adjacent recipients were identified in searchable 990 data 89.

No public evidence identified of OpenAI directing corporate resources, physical logistics, or free services directly to Israeli state, military, or state-aligned NGOs during active conflict periods 1. Microsoft provides OpenAI’s GPT-4 to the Israeli military via Azure government cloud, constituting indirect provision of AI infrastructure to Israeli defense 23.

Corporate Structure & Primary Mission

OpenAI was founded as a non-profit research organization with a stated mission of ensuring artificial general intelligence benefits humanity 1. The corporate structure has evolved: OpenAI LP (capped-profit subsidiary) was established in 2019, and Microsoft invested $1 billion that same year 1.

No evidence identified of OpenAI’s corporate charter containing explicit language tying operations to advancing state geopolitical goals 1. No evidence of state-held golden shares or government equity positions in OpenAI has been identified 1.

No Israel-domiciled OpenAI subsidiaries were identified through searches of the Israeli Companies Registrar and commercial directories 1.

Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI), co-founded by former OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, is headquartered in both Palo Alto, California, and Tel Aviv, Israel 1011. SSI raised $1 billion in September 2024 and reached a $30 billion valuation in March 2025 10. SSI partnered with Google Cloud for TPU access in April 2025 10.

Executive & Leadership Footprint

Sam Altman: In May 2024, Altman made a personal angel investment in Apex Security, an Israeli AI cybersecurity startup co-founded by veterans of Unit 8200 (Matan Derman, CEO, and Tomer Avni, CPO) 1. Apex raised $7 million in seed funding co-led by Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures 1. In May 2025, Tenable acquired Apex Security for approximately $105 million 12. No evidence identified of Altman making direct donations to FIDF, JNF/KKL, settlement organizations, or Israeli military-welfare bodies 1.

Greg Brockman: Greg Brockman and wife Anna Brockman donated $50 million to Leading the Future (LTF), a bipartisan AI-focused super PAC advocating for AI deregulation 1314. In 2025, Greg and Anna Brockman each donated $25 million to MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC (total $50 million) 1315. OpenAI publicly stated these were personal activities, not company policy 1. No evidence identified of Greg Brockman making donations to FIDF, JNF, or settlement-linked organizations 1. The Brockman Foundation (EIN 76-0239422) is a separate entity operated by Robert T. Brockman II and family in Houston, Texas, and is not connected to OpenAI’s Greg Brockman 16.

Ilya Sutskever: In June 2024, Sutskever co-founded Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI), headquartered in Palo Alto and Tel Aviv 1011. Sutskever grew up in Israel and departed OpenAI in May 2024 1. No evidence of Sutskever making personal donations to Israeli military-welfare bodies has been identified 1.

Paul Nakasone: In June 2024, Nakasone was appointed to the OpenAI Board of Directors and Safety and Security Committee 17. Nakasone served as NSA Director and U.S. Cyber Command Commander from 2018 to early 2024 17. No evidence of personal donations to Israeli military-welfare bodies has been identified 1.

Palmer Luckey (Anduril): Luckey is a self-described “radinal Zionist” who stated “Israel has my unqualified support” and visited Israel in February 2026 meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Katz 18.

March 2026: Altman told OpenAI staff that the Pentagon had made clear that OpenAI does not “get to make operational decisions” regarding how its technology is used by the Department of Defense 19.

Current OpenAI board members (as of 2024–2025) include Bret Taylor (Chair), Adam D’Angelo, Sam Altman, Paul Nakasone, Sue Desmond-Hellmann, Zico Kolter, Adebayo Ogunlesi, and Nicole Seligman 20. No evidence identified of defense-industry board positions or Israeli government advisory roles for board members beyond Paul Nakasone (NSA background) 2122.

Defense Industry Partnerships: In December 2024, OpenAI announced a partnership with Anduril Industries to integrate GPT models into counter-drone defense systems for the U.S. military 23. In March 2025, OpenAI reached agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense to deploy models on the defense department’s classified network 24. A $200 million Pentagon contract (Department of Defense CDAO) for government AI applications was established in 2024 1.

End Notes

Footnotes

  1. No specific source URL documented for this finding; evidence compiled from aggregated research findings across Rounds 1–3. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19 ↩20 ↩21 ↩22 ↩23 ↩24 ↩25 ↩26 ↩27 ↩28 ↩29 ↩30 ↩31 ↩32 ↩33 ↩34 ↩35 ↩36 ↩37 ↩38

  2. https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-ai-technology-737bc17af7b03e98c29cec4e15d0f108 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/7371 ↩ ↩2

  4. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/apr/25/google-workers-arrested-protest-nimbus-israel ↩

  5. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/25/microsoft-blocks-israels-use-of-its-technology-in-mass-surveillance-of-palestinians ↩

  6. https://openai.com/index/disrupting-deceptive-uses-of-ai-by-covert-influence-operations ↩

  7. https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?pid=f32756 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  8. https://www.instrumentl.com/990-report/openai-inc ↩ ↩2

  9. https://www.instrumentl.com/990-report/openai-inc ↩ ↩2

  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_Superintelligence_Inc. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  11. https://ssi.inc/careers ↩ ↩2

  12. https://www.cooley.com/news/coverage/2025/2025-05-29-tenable-to-acquire-apex-security ↩

  13. https://www.businessinsider.com/greg-brochman-wife-anna-donated-50-million-ai-super-pac-2025 ↩ ↩2

  14. https://www.fec.gov/data/committees/C00868324 ↩

  15. https://www.fec.gov/data/committees/C00831477 ↩

  16. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/760239422 ↩

  17. https://openai.com/index/openai-appoints-general-paul-m-nakasone ↩ ↩2

  18. https://vinnews.com/2026/02/20/anduril-founder-palmer-luckey-makes-secret-visit-to-israel-meets-netanyahu ↩

  19. https://www.responsiblestatecraft.org/openai-pentagon-7255971 ↩

  20. https://www.reuters.com/technology/openais-new-look-board-altman-returns-2023-11-22 ↩

  21. https://www.forbes.com/profile/bret-taylor ↩

  22. https://www.quora.com/profile/Adam-DAngelo ↩

  23. https://www.anduril.com/news/openai-anduril-partnership ↩

  24. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2e8e4e3e1e ↩