WASHINGTON
—
Secretary
of
Defense
has
labeled
the
artificial
intelligence
firm
Anthropic
a
“Supply-Chain
Risk
to
National
Security,”
barring
virtually
any
company
that
does
business
with
the
Pentagon
from
working
with
the
firm,
after
it
refused
to
Defense
Department’s
demand
to
remove
internal
guardrails
on
its
AI
model.
“This
week,
Anthropic
delivered
a
master
class
in
arrogance
and
betrayal
as
well
as
a
textbook
case
of
how
not
to
do
business
with
the
United
States
Government
or
the
Pentagon,”
Pete
Hegseth
wrote
on
X.
“Our
position
has
never
wavered
and
will
never
waver:
the
Department
of
War
must
have
full,
unrestricted
access
to
Anthropic’s
models
for
every
LAWFUL
purpose
in
defense
of
the
Republic.”
Hegseth’s
tweet
followed
an
aggressive
missive
from
President
Donald
Trump
in
which
he
ordered
the
entire
federal
government
to
“immediately
cease”
the
use
of
Anthropic’s
tech.
“The
Leftwing
nut
jobs
at
Anthropic
have
made
a
DISASTROUS
MISTAKE
trying
to
STRONG-ARM
the
Department
of
War,
and
force
them
to
obey
their
Terms
of
Service
instead
of
our
Constitution,”
Trump
wrote
on
Truth
Social.
“Their
selfishness
is
putting
AMERICAN
LIVES
at
risk,
our
Troops
in
danger,
and
our
National
Security
in
JEOPARDY.”
Trump
said
some
government
agencies,
like
the
Pentagon,
will
undergo
a
six-month
“phase
out”
period,
during
which
he
said
Anthropic
“better
get
their
act
together,
and
be
helpful
[…]
or
I
will
use
the
Full
Power
of
the
Presidency
to
make
them
comply,
with
major
civil
and
criminal
consequences
to
follow.”
On
Thursday
Anthropic
CEO
Dario
Amodei
published
a
statement
saying
the
company
“cannot
in
good
conscience
accede
to
[the
Pentagon’s]
request”
to
abandon
company
policies
related
to
the
use
of
its
AI
for
lethal
autonomous
operations
or
mass
domestic
surveillance.
Pentagon
spokesperson
Sean
Parnell
has
said
the
DoD
has
“no
interest”
in
using
AI
for
either
task,
but
chafed
at
the
existence
of
the
guardrails.
“Here’s
what
we’re
asking:
Allow
the
Pentagon
to
use
Anthropic’s
model
for
all
lawful
purposes,”
Parnell
said
Thursday.
“This
is
a
simple,
common-sense
request
that
will
prevent
Anthropic
from
jeopardizing
critical
military
operations
and
potentially
putting
our
warfighters
at
risk.
We
will
not
let
ANY
company
dictate
the
terms
regarding
how
we
make
operational
decisions.”
In
Anthropic’s
statement,
Amodei
argued
that
the
company
had
worked
closely
with
the
military
and
said,
“We
have
never
raised
objections
to
particular
military
operations
nor
attempted
to
limit
use
of
our
technology
in
an
ad
hoc
manner.
“However,
in
a
narrow
set
of
cases,
we
believe
AI
can
undermine,
rather
than
defend,
democratic
values.
Some
uses
are
also
simply
outside
the
bounds
of
what
today’s
technology
can
safely
and
reliably
do,”
he
said,
referring
to
the
autonomous
weapons
and
domestic
surveillance.
Later
in
the
letter,
he
said,
“It
is
the
Department’s
prerogative
to
select
contractors
most
aligned
with
their
vision.
But
given
the
substantial
value
that
Anthropic’s
technology
provides
to
our
armed
forces,
we
hope
they
reconsider.
“Our
strong
preference
is
to
continue
to
serve
the
Department
and
our
warfighters
—
with
our
two
requested
safeguards
in
place,”
the
letter
says.
“Should
the
Department
choose
to
offboard
Anthropic,
we
will
work
to
enable
a
smooth
transition
to
another
provider,
avoiding
any
disruption
to
ongoing
military
planning,
operations,
or
other
critical
missions.”
Trump’s
mention
of
a
sixth-month
phase
out
period
reflects
the
issue
that
Anthropic’s
AI
tech,
specifically
its
Claude
AI
model,
is
reportedly
deeply
enmeshed
in
the
federal
government,
including
at
the
Pentagon
where
it’s
used
on
the
classified
level.
Anthropic
was
one
of
four
tech
firms
that
won
contracts
each
worth
up
to
$200
million
last
summer
to
customize
their
popular
generative
AI
applications
for
military
use.
The
public
tussle
between
the
AI
firm
and
the
Pentagon
has
drawn
in
other
key
tech
players,
like
xAI’s
Elon
Musk
and
Palantir’s
Alex
Karp,
both
of
whom
appeared
to
take
the
Pentagon’s
side,
and
OpenAI,
which
reportedly
said
it
shares
Anthropic’s
red
lines.
(OpenAI’s
Sam
Altman
later
posted
online
that
his
firm
had
come
to
an
agreement
with
the
DoD
to
use
its
AI
tech
on
classified
networks,
after
he
said
DoD
“displayed
a
deep
respect
for
safety.”)
According
to
Axios,
senior
senators
on
the
Armed
Services
Committee
wrote
a
letter
to
the
Pentagon
today
urging
officials
to
settle
the
dispute.
In
his
tweet
today,
Hegseth
said
Anthropic
would
“continue
to
provide
the
Department
of
War
its
services
for
a
period
of
no
more
than
six
months
to
allow
for
a
seamless
transition
to
a
better
and
more
patriotic
service.
“America’s
warfighters
will
never
be
held
hostage
by
the
ideological
whims
of
Big
Tech.
This
decision
is
final.”
UPDATED
2/28/2026
at
2:07pm
ET
to
include
OpenAI’s
agreement
with
the
Pentagon.