OpenAI hires former US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll for new national security role

In brief

• OpenAI has hired former US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll as senior counselor for national security modernization.
• Driscoll is to advise on using AI for national and cyber defense and work with US allies.
• The appointment follows Driscoll's role as Army secretary, his Ukraine peace-plan mission and his resignation at the end of August.

New role and mandate

OpenAI said on Monday that it has brought on Dan Driscoll, who until recently led the US Army, as senior counselor for national security modernization (OpenAI взяла на работу Дэна Дрисколла — бывшего министра армии США, который участвовал в переговорах о мире в Украине – Meduza) (OpenAI Hires Former Trump Admin. Army Secretary for New National Security Role – Gizmodo) (OpenAI hires former U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll for national security role – CNBC). In the post, he is to counsel the company on how AI can support national and cyber defenses, with the aim of collaborating with American partners abroad on its accountable deployment. OpenAI also said his familiarity with the operational demands facing security institutions worldwide will be of use to its staff.

Driscoll's background

Driscoll was appointed Army secretary after Donald Trump won the presidential election, and he was seen as a protégé of Vice President JD Vance. In November 2025 Trump named him special envoy for Ukraine, and later that month he presented the administration's peace plan to President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. Zelensky did not accept the plan but agreed to work on it. The Telegraph reported in late December 2025 that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had removed Driscoll from talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war, though Driscoll took part in trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US in Abu Dhabi in February. He resigned as Army secretary at the end of August.

Military demand for AI

Driscoll argued that AI could help armed forces keep up by cutting administrative workload, sorting through larger amounts of data and routing accurate answers to decision-makers more quickly. The Financial Times framed the appointment against a broader push by the military to expand its use of AI (OpenAI hires former US Army secretary as military seeks to expand AI use – Financial Times).

Statements from OpenAI

Chief executive Sam Altman said the company's hiring of Driscoll would help the US in its effort to shape democratic AI abroad. He argued that AI should give people more control over their lives and that citizens should have a say in how the technology develops.