Two months after resigning as U.S. Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll is moving into the AI industry’s intensifying contest over national security. OpenAI said Tuesday that he will take up the newly created post of senior counsellor for national security modernisation, advising company leaders and outside partners on defense uses of AI.¹

The appointment places a former senior Pentagon official at the center of OpenAI’s effort to make advanced AI more useful to governments without surrendering the language of restraint. The company says Driscoll will help U.S. allies adopt the technology responsibly and support the buildout of what it calls “democratic AI.”¹

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman cast the move as part of a wider geopolitical project, saying AI should give people “more power over their lives” and that they should have a say in its development. He argued that Washington has “an extraordinary opportunity” to work with other countries to spread democratic AI, with Driscoll intended to strengthen American leadership in that push.²

Driscoll’s case is more operational. Drawing on his time as a soldier, Army secretary and acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, he said personnel deserve the best available tools as national-security requirements change faster than at any point in 50 years. AI, he said, can cut paperwork, make sense of more information and get “the right answer to the right person faster.”²

His remit will include helping OpenAI’s internal teams understand the needs of national-security institutions globally, while working across government, industry, academia and allied bodies on practical modernisation initiatives. The company’s message is clear: AI in defense is no longer a distant research question, but an immediate test of whether speed, alliance-building and responsible deployment can coexist.²