President Donald Trump has directed all U.S. federal agencies to immediately cease using products from the AI company Anthropic, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth labeled the firm a national security “supply-chain risk,” a designation typically applied to foreign adversaries, reports Baltimore Chronicle via ABC. The move came after a Friday deadline passed for Anthropic to comply with the Pentagon’s contractual terms. Hegseth’s statement instructed every defense contractor to stop utilizing Anthropic’s AI technology.
Hegseth emphasized that the company would continue supporting the Department of Defense for up to six months to allow agencies a smooth transition to alternative providers. He stressed that the decision is irreversible, stating that America’s military personnel “will never be held hostage by the ideological whims of Big Tech.”
Anthropic responded after the deadline, asserting that it had not received direct communication from either the Pentagon or the White House regarding negotiations. CEO Dario Amodei reaffirmed the company’s refusal to abandon two key principles: prohibiting the use of its AI for fully autonomous weapons, where AI rather than humans make battlefield targeting decisions, and barring mass domestic surveillance.
“We have negotiated in good faith with the Department of War, supporting all lawful AI applications for national security except these two narrowly defined exceptions,” Anthropic said in a statement. The company described Hegseth’s supply chain risk designation as “legally unsound” and signaled plans to challenge it in court, warning that it could set a dangerous precedent for American businesses negotiating with the federal government.
President Trump had posted on his social media platform that federal agencies must stop using Anthropic’s technology immediately, outlining a six-month phase-out period for departments such as the Department of War. He warned of full presidential authority being applied with potential civil and criminal consequences if compliance is not achieved.
Prior to the deadline, Anthropic had told ABC News that new Pentagon contract language did not fully ensure that their safeguards against autonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance would be respected. The company noted that the department’s revisions could allow these safeguards to be ignored. “The contract language we received made virtually no progress on preventing Claude’s use for mass surveillance of Americans or in fully autonomous weapons,” the statement read.
In contrast, OpenAI announced late Friday that it had reached an agreement with the Pentagon to deploy its AI models on the department’s classified network. CEO Sam Altman emphasized that two safety principles—prohibiting domestic mass surveillance and ensuring human responsibility for force, including autonomous weapons—were incorporated into the agreement, with technical safeguards to be implemented. Altman urged the Department of War to extend similar terms to other AI companies.
Leading up to the deadline, Senate Armed Services Committee leaders sent a private letter to both Anthropic and the Pentagon, urging continued negotiations and collaboration with Congress to determine if additional legislative or regulatory measures were necessary. While the Pentagon maintains that it does not intend to employ Anthropic’s AI for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous kinetic operations, it cited concerns that the company’s guardrails could impede military effectiveness.
Observers warned that if Anthropic does not comply, the Department of Defense could effectively take unprecedented action against a leading American AI firm, sending a strong signal to private technology companies regarding compliance with federal directives.
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