Mythos effect: Trump administration seeks to end Pentagon’s AI standoff, reinstate Anthropic’s Claude, says report
The Trump administration is apparently making a U-turn against using Anthropic’s AI tools for the federal government. The White House is exploring ways to allow U.S. government agencies to work with Anthropic again despite the company having previously been flagged as a supply chain risk, according to a new report by Axios.
In particular, after negotiations between Anthropic and the Pentagon collapsed due to security risks regarding the use of the company’s artificial intelligence in secret missions, US President Donald Trump described the new company as a ‘radical left, woke company’ that had made a ‘catastrophic mistake’ in trying to force the War Department to ‘abide by the Terms of Service’.
“We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and we won’t do business with them again! There will be a six-month sunset period for agencies like the War Department that use Anthropic’s products to varying degrees.” Trump wrote at the time.
Trump administration’s U-turn?
The Axios report notes that a draft administrative action that could ease tensions between Anthropic and management is currently being worked on. Citing a source, the report said the new draft was a way to “save face and bring them back”.
Reportedly, senior White House officials, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, recently met with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in what was described as a productive introductory meeting on how the Claude producer and the US government can work together.
The White House is also reportedly in talks with companies across a variety of industries to shape proposed guidance and define best practices for deploying Anthropic’s latest AI model, Mythos, which the company deems too great a security risk to be made public. The meetings are said to include “table readings” of possible guidance that could effectively reverse the previous directive that Anthropic’s tools not be used in government.
Speaking about the development to Axios, the White House said: “The White House continues to proactively engage across government and industry to protect our country and the American people, including working with AI labs at the border.”
“The collective effort of everyone involved will ultimately benefit our economy and our country. But any policy announcements will come directly from the President and anything else is pure speculation,” he added.
US agencies are clamoring to get their hands on Mythos:
The sudden change in policy was attributed to Anthropic’s Mythos AI model, which, although it has demonstrated the ability to automate cyber attacks, can also be a powerful tool for cyber defenders.
While the Pentagon is still battling Anthropic in court over determining its supply chain, other federal agencies are also reportedly clamoring for access to the new technology. In fact, despite the ongoing legal wrangling, the National Security Agency (NSA) is already actively using Mythos.
According to the report, the Pentagon can still use Anthropic’s models despite the legal struggle, while the National Security Agency (NSA) uses Mythos.
Although key players in the Pentagon are still “deepening” on the issue of determining the supply chain, other stakeholders believe the fight is counterproductive and are ready to find a way out, the report notes.
