The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) rolled out OpenAI’s ChatGPT to its employees this week, an OPM spokesperson told MeriTalk.
OPM Director Scott Kupor sent an email to the OPM workforce on Tuesday to let them know they would have access to OpenAI’s latest model, GPT-5, “over the next few days.”
“This is part of our broader effort to equip you with AI tools that help you work faster, think bigger, and collaborate better,” Kupor wrote in the email, which OPM shared with MeriTalk.
In addition to ChatGPT, Kupor said that OPM employees already have access to Microsoft 365 Copilot chat – which is powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o.
“AI is a great assistant, but you’re still the expert. I know some of you are excited, some are curious, and some are wary. In the coming weeks, [the Office of the Chief Information Officer] will host brown bag sessions to help clarify and ensure you get the most out of these tools,” Kupor wrote in the email, adding, “Let’s lead the way in using AI thoughtfully and effectively — starting now.”
In August, OpenAI and the General Services Administration reached an agreement to provide federal agencies with ChatGPT for $1 for the next year as part of its OneGov initiative.
Late last month, Kupor said he sees artificial intelligence as a big piece of OPM’s modernization and efficiency push. He pointed to opportunities ranging from sifting through tens of thousands of public comments on regulations to scanning resumes for hiring managers to review.
“We’re not going to do crazy things. We’re not going to, like, you know, turn the computers on, and all of us go home at the end of the day here,” Kupor said, adding, “But, I think we need to incrementally find small places where we can kind of find improvements.”
“If AI is as transformational, at least, as I believe it will be … I think it’s just going to get embedded into everything we do,” he said.