Anthropic Cannot in Good Conscience Accede To Pentagon’s Demands: CEO
Washington: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said Thursday that the artificial intelligence company “cannot in good conscience accept” the Pentagon’s request to allow unrestricted use of its technology, deepening an unusually public clash with the Trump administration, which has threatened to withdraw the contract and take other tough steps by Friday.
Claude, the maker of the artificial intelligence chatbot, said in a statement that it had not withdrawn from negotiations, but that the new contract language from the Department of Defense “makes almost no progress in preventing Claude from using Americans for mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons.”
“The military has no interest in using AI to conduct mass surveillance on Americans (which is illegal), and we do not want to use AI to develop autonomous weapons that operate without human intervention,” Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said in a statement on social media Thursday.
Anthropic’s policies prevent its models from being used for these purposes. This is the latest of its precedents (the Pentagon also has agreements with Google, OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI not to supply its technology to a new US military domestic network).
“It is the Ministry’s prerogative to select contractors that best suit their vision,” Amodei wrote in a statement. “But given the significant value Anthropic’s technology provides to our armed forces, we hope they will reconsider.”
After meeting with Amodei on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave Anthropic an ultimatum: Open its AI technology to unrestricted military use by Friday or risk losing the government contract. Military officials warned they could go further and designate the company as a supply chain risk or invoke a Cold War-era law called the Defense Production Act to give the military broader authority to use its products.
Amodei said in a statement Thursday that “these two latest threats are inherently contradictory: one labels us as a security risk, while the other labels Claude as essential to national security.”
Parnell reiterated that the Pentagon wants to “use Anthropic’s model for all lawful purposes,” but did not elaborate on what that would entail. He said opening up the use of the technology would prevent the company from “compromising critical military operations.”
“We will not allow ANY company to dictate the terms of how we make operational decisions,” he said.
The talks that escalated this week had started months ago. “Given the significant value that Anthropic’s technology provides to our armed forces, we hope they will reconsider,” Amodei said. But if they don’t, he said Anthropic “will work to ensure a smooth transition to another provider.”
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who is not seeking reelection, said Thursday that the Pentagon handled the matter unprofessionally and that Anthropic was “trying to do its best to help us on our own.”
“Why are we having this discussion publicly?” Tillis told reporters. “That’s not how you deal with a strategic vendor who has contracts.”
He added: “If a company is resisting a market opportunity because they fear negative consequences, you need to listen to them and understand what they are really trying to solve behind closed doors.”
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he was “deeply disturbed” by reports that the Pentagon was “trying to bully a leading US company.”
“Unfortunately, this is yet another indication that the Department of Defense is attempting to completely ignore AI governance,” Warner said in a statement. “It further underscores the need for Congress to enact strong, binding AI governance mechanisms for national security contexts.”
While Pentagon officials say they will always comply with the law using artificial intelligence models, the department has taken steps to change the culture in military legal ranks.
“Ultimately, we want non-existent lawyers who give sound constitutional advice to try to block everything,” Hegseth told Fox News last February, weeks after becoming secretary of defense.
That same month, Hegseth also fired the Army and Air Force’s top lawyers without explanation. The Navy’s top lawyer resigned shortly after the election in late 2024.
