Anthropic’s Claude would ‘pollute’ defense supply chain: Pentagon CTO

DoD CTO Emil Michael said Thursday that Anthropic’s Claude AI models would “contaminate” the agency’s supply chain because they have a “different policy preference.”

“We cannot have a company that has a different policy choice baked into the model, in its constitution, in its spirit, in its policy choices, that contaminates the supply chain and leaves our warfighters with ineffective weapons, ineffective body armor, and ineffective protection,” Michael told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “This is where the definition of supply chain risk comes in.”

Anthropic is the first American company to be publicly labeled as a supply chain risk; This is an extraordinary move historically reserved for foreign enemies. This designation will require defense contractors and suppliers to certify that they do not use Claude in their work with the Pentagon.

The startup sued the Trump administration on Monday, calling the government’s actions “unprecedented and illegal.” Anthropic said in a filing that the company was “irreparably damaged” and contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars were at stake.

“This is not intended to be punitive,” Michael said Thursday.

He added that Anthropic has a “huge commercial business” and a “tiny portion” comes from the US government.

Anthropic was founded in 2021 by a group of researchers and executives who left OpenAI. The company is best known for its Claude family of models and has had early success selling to large businesses, including the Department of Defense.

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