President Donald Trump on Friday ordered all federal government agencies to stop using the technology of AI company Anthropic. He did so an hour before the deadline set by the Pentagon to authorize unrestricted military use of the advanced AI technology. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei had already stated on Thursday that his company “in good conscience cannot agree” to the demands of the Ministry of Defense. In a post on Truth Social Trump calls Anthropic a company of “left-wing lunatics.”
Defense Minister Pete Hegseth announced shortly after the deadline of 11:01 PM Dutch time on Friday evening on X know that he designates Anthropic as “a supply chain risk to national security” and that no contractor, supplier or partner that does business with the US military will be allowed to engage in commercial activities with the AI company. The Pentagon itself will continue to use Anthropic’s services during a transition period of up to six months “to enable a smooth transition to a better and more patriotic service provider.”
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The conflict revolves around the conditions under which the army can use Anthropic’s chatbot Claude. The AI company wants to contractually stipulate that its technology will not be used for mass surveillance of civilians or for weapons that select and attack targets without human intervention. The Ministry of Defense demands unrestricted access for all lawful military purposes. According to Hegseth, it is unacceptable for a private technology company to impose restrictions on operational decisions of the US military.
Competitors such as OpenAI, Google and xAI also have defense contracts, but Anthropic has been the most important and advanced supplier of artificial intelligence to date.
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Trump and Pentagon ban cooperation with AI company Anthropic
