Pentagon moves to designate Anthropic as a supply-chain risk

Source: TechCrunch

In Brief

President Trump posted on Truth Social directing federal agencies to cease use of all Anthropic products following the company’s public dispute with the Department of Defense. He allowed a six‑month phase‑out period for departments using the products and emphasized that Anthropic is no longer welcome as a federal contractor.

“We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again,” the president wrote.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s Directive

A subsequent tweet from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed the threat to Anthropic’s federal status:

“In conjunction with the President’s directive for the Federal Government to cease all use of Anthropic’s technology, I am directing the Department of War to designate Anthropic a Supply‑Chain Risk to National Security. Effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic.”
— Tweet

Anthropic’s Response

CEO Dario Amodei reiterated the company’s stance in a public post, refusing to compromise on two key safeguards:

“Our strong preference is to continue to serve the Department and our warfighters — with our two requested safeguards in place. 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.”
— Anthropic statement

The Pentagon dispute centers on Anthropic’s refusal to allow its AI models to be used for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons, which the Secretary of Defense deemed “unduly restrictive.”