Leading artificial intelligence company Anthropic rejected an ultimatum Thursday from the Trump administration to open up its AI applications to unlimited use by the U.S. military or risk losing its Pentagon contracts and potentially be labeled a “supply chain risk.”
In a statement, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei — whose company is behind the popular Claude AI app — said there are a “narrow set of cases” in which he believes AI “can undermine, rather than defend, democratic values.” He cited mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons as such cases.
Mr. Amodei indicated he is prepared for his firm to lose out on hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts and potentially even be labeled a risk to the American military’s supply chain, which could essentially force other companies to end their own partnerships with Anthropic if they want government contracts.
“Regardless, these threats do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience accede to their request,” the CEO 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,” he said. “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. Our models will be available on the expansive terms we have proposed for as long as required.”
Mr. Amodei’s statement comes just days after a tense in-person meeting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon. Mr. Hegseth gave the Anthropic CEO until Friday to decide whether to open up Claude to all lawful military uses or risk losing the company’s contracts with the government, worth a reported $200 million.
The clash between the Pentagon and Anthropic began after reports that U.S. forces used Claude in the operation to capture then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas last month.
Anthropic says its usage guidelines prohibit Claude from being used to facilitate violence, develop weapons or conduct surveillance.
The unfolding dispute at the highest levels of the federal government and the nation’s increasingly powerful tech sector underscore the thorny, complex questions at play when the U.S. military uses a company’s product in a lethal military mission.
Several hours before Mr. Amodei’s statement, chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a post on X that the public characterization of the dispute is incorrect — but he reiterated the threat to sever Defense Department ties with Anthropic.
“The Department of War has no interest in using AI to conduct mass surveillance of Americans (which is illegal) nor do we want to use AI to develop autonomous weapons that operate without human involvement. This narrative is fake and being peddled by leftists in the media,” Mr. Parnell said.
“Here’s what we’re asking: Allow the Pentagon to use Anthropic’s model for all lawful purposes,” he said. “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 his statement, Mr. Amodei said the company believes in using AI to advance U.S. interests.
“I believe deeply in the existential importance of using AI to defend the United States and other democracies, and to defeat our autocratic adversaries,” he said.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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