OpenAI launches ChatGPT Gov, an AI chatbot for government agencies

OpenAI, the Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence research firm that created the well-known AI chatbot ChatGPT, said on Tuesday that it has started a new project especially for the US government.

The new product, called ChatGPT Gov, is a customized version of ChatGPT classic that gives government organizations access to OpenAI’s cutting-edge large language models (LLMs) while maintaining internal security measures. As stated in OpenAI’s statement, agencies would have the option to use their own hosting infrastructures and security frameworks when utilizing ChatGPT Gov to manage “non-public sensitive data.”

“We believe the U.S. government’s adoption of artificial intelligence can boost efficiency and productivity and is crucial for maintaining and enhancing America’s global leadership in this technology,” OpenAI said in a press release Tuesday. “This includes making our models available to support public sector work that benefits society – such as public health, energy and the environment, transportation and infrastructure, consumer protection, and national security.”

What does ChatGPT Gov do?

According to OpenAI’s publication on Tuesday, ChatGPT Gov has many of the same features and functionalities as ChatGPT Enterprise. Among them are:

1. Storing, exchanging, and uploading text and picture assets inside the government workplace.
2. The flagship model from OpenAI, GPT-4o, “excels in text interpretation, summarization, coding, image interpretation, and mathematics.”
3. Within their government workplace, employees may create and distribute custom GPTs (also known as generative pre-trained transformers or the big language model frameworks that enable generative AI).
4. IT teams and CIOs (chief information officers) may manage users, groups, Custom GPTs, single sign-on (SSO), and more using this administration portal.

Is ChatGPT Gov safe?

The deployment of generative AI models raises ethical, moral, and safety concerns that are hotly debated everywhere from national security agencies to high school academic honesty committees.

OpenAI claimed in its news release that government organizations utilizing ChatGPT Gov can install the program in their own Microsoft Azure commercial cloud or Azure Government cloud on top of Microsoft’s Azure’s OpenAI Service, while experts and officials will continue to argue the matter. These often utilized services are well-liked in government workplaces due to their sophisticated safety measures.

The agencies may “manage their own security, privacy, and compliance requirements,” according to the report, by self-hosting ChatGPT Gov and utilizing cybersecurity frameworks such as FedRAMP High, IL5, CJIS, and ITAR. OpenAI’s use guidelines still apply while using ChatGPT Gov.

What government agencies already use ChatGPT?

Several agencies already employ Chat GPT services, according to OpenAI’s press release, including:

1. ChatGPT Enterprise is used by the Air Force Research Laboratory for administrative duties, such as enhancing internal resource access and learning basic coding.
2. ChatGPT Enterprise is used for scientific research and innovation at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
3. ChatGPT Team provides translation services for the Enterprise Translations Office of the State of Minnesota.
4. ChatGPT Enterprise is used by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania⁠ for standard duties such project requirements analysis.