OpenAI hires Dan Driscoll, former US Army secretary who took part in Ukraine peace talks

OpenAI, the developer of the ChatGPT chatbot, has appointed former U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll as “senior counselor for national security modernization,” the company said on its website.In this role, Driscoll will work with U.S. allies “to advance [artificial intelligence’s] responsible use.“AI should give people more power over their lives and people should have a say in how it’s developed. The US 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,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said.Dan Driscoll became U.S. Army secretary after Donald Trump won the presidential election. He was considered a protégé of Vice President JD Vance. Trump appointed Driscoll as his special envoy for Ukraine in November 2025. On November 19, Driscoll arrived in Kyiv, where he presented Ukraine’s president with the Trump administration’s peace plan to end the war. Volodymyr Zelensky did not accept the plan but agreed to keep working on it.The Telegraph reported in late December 2025 that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had removed Driscoll from negotiations to end the Russia–Ukraine war. In February of this year, however, Driscoll took part in trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the United States in Abu Dhabi.Driscoll resigned as Army secretary in late August. The Wall Street Journal linked his departure to disagreements with Hegseth.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.