Driscoll is joining the artificial intelligence (AI) startup as its “Senior Counselor for National Security Modernization,” OpenAI announced Tuesday (Nov. 3).
“AI should give people more power over their lives and people should have a say in how it’s developed,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in the announcement. “The U.S. has an extraordinary opportunity to work with other countries to spread the adoption of democratic AI and I’m excited to welcome Dan Driscoll to OpenAI to strengthen American leadership and help us do that.”
In this newly-created position, Driscoll will work with OpenAI teams and government, industry and academic leaders to promote “practical modernization initiatives that support the buildout of democratic AI,” the announcement said.
Driscoll will also help OpenAI understand the “operational needs of global national security institutions,” the company added.
Dan previously served as the 26th secretary of the Army and also as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), while also claiming private sector experience, the announcement said.
“The people who serve deserve the very best tools we can put in their hands,” Driscoll said. National security requirements are changing faster than at any time in the past fifty years. This technology will help them keep pace by cutting through paperwork, making sense of more information, and getting the right answer to the right person faster.”
A report on the appointment from the Wall Street Journal noted that Driscoll was a law-school classmate of Vice President JD Vance. In his time as Secretary of the Army, he pushed troops to embrace new battlefield technology and oversaw multibillion-dollar private-sector partnerships to update base infrastructure and domestic logistics.
Driscoll stepped down from his Pentagon job in September after months of tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the direction of the military and the firing of several senior Army officers, the WSJ added.
The appointment comes as companies continue to turn to AI for cybersecurity defenses. Research by PYMNTS Intelligence has found that broader use of AI accompanies stronger prevention. Among businesses using three or more AI fraud detection tools, 59% said they were able to stop at least 90% of fraud attempts before loss occurs. Only 32% of firms without AI tools were able to achieve that threshold, a percentage gap of 27 points.
