US President Donald Trump, on February 27, said he is directing every federal agency to cease the use of Anthropic’s technology, citing concerns over national security and military authority.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the United States “will never allow a radical left, woke company to dictate how our great military fights and wins wars,” adding that such decisions belong to the commander-in-chief and appointed military leaders.
He accused Anthropic of attempting to “strong-arm the Department of War” and force compliance with its terms of service “instead of our Constitution.”
Trump said the company’s actions were “putting American lives at risk, our Troops in danger, and our National Security in jeopardy.”
He added there will be a six-month phase-out period for agencies currently using Anthropic’s products, including the United States Department of War, which he referred to in his statement. “We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again,” he wrote.
He also warned that if the company does not cooperate during the transition, he would “use the Full Power of the Presidency to make them comply, with major civil and criminal consequences to follow.”
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on X that he had directed the United States Department of Defense to “designate Anthropic a Supply-Chain Risk to National Security,” citing the AI startup’s refusal to comply with government demands over how its technology may be used.
Anthropic Issues Statement
In response, Anthropic issued a statement saying it would challenge any such designation in court, arguing that the proposed action is not legally justified.
“No amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War will change our position on mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons,” the company said. “We will challenge any supply chain risk designation in court.”
The company said the talks reached an impasse over “the mass domestic surveillance of Americans and fully autonomous weapons.” Anthropic said it had not yet received direct communication from the Department of War or the White House regarding the status of the negotiations.
Anthropic, which signed a $200 million contract with the United States Department of Defense in July last year, sought assurances that its AI models would not be used for fully autonomous weapons or mass domestic surveillance of Americans.
The Pentagon rejected that request and set a 5:01 p.m. ET Friday deadline for Anthropic to agree to terms allowing the US military to use the technology for all lawful purposes.
“We are deeply saddened by these developments,” Anthropic said, adding that it was the first frontier AI company to deploy models on US government classified networks and has supported American warfighters since June 2024.
Anthropic said it “support[s] all lawful uses of AI for national security aside from the two narrow exceptions above,” adding that, to its knowledge, the exceptions “have not affected a single government mission to date.”
The company said it opposed the use of current frontier AI models in fully autonomous weapons because it does not believe the systems are reliable enough. “Allowing current models to be used in this way would endanger America’s warfighters and civilians,” the company said.
On domestic surveillance, Anthropic said it believes “mass domestic surveillance of Americans constitutes a violation of fundamental rights.”
Addressing customers, Anthropic said Hegseth had implied the designation would restrict companies that do business with the military from working with Anthropic. “The Secretary does not have the statutory authority to back up this statement,” the company said.
Citing 10 USC 3252, the legal requirement pertaining to supply chain risks, Anthropic said a supply chain risk designation “can only extend to the use of Claude as part of Department of War contracts—it cannot affect how contractors use Claude to serve other customers.”
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