President Donald Trump on Friday announced that he is directing all federal agencies to stop using Anthropic’s AI tools. Soon after the 79-year-old’s order, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that he is declaring the artificial intelligence startup as a supply-chain risk. This capped a weeks-long fight between the Pentagon and Anthropic over concerns about how the military could use AI at war.
“I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again!” Trump said in a Truth Social post. He added that there would be a six-month phaseout for the Defense Department and other agencies that use the company’s products.
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Supply Chain Risk
Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, slammed Anthropic and its CEO Dario Amodei. “This week, Anthropic delivered a master class in arrogance and betrayal as well as a textbook case of how not to do business with the United States Government or the Pentagon,” he wrote on X, platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Our position has never wavered and will never waver: the Department of War must have full, unrestricted access to Anthropic’s models for every LAWFUL purpose in defense of the Republic. Instead, @AnthropicAI and its CEO @DarioAmodei, have chosen duplicity. Cloaked in the sanctimonious rhetoric of “effective altruism,” they have attempted to strong-arm the United States military into submission – a cowardly act of corporate virtue-signaling that places Silicon Valley ideology above American lives.”
The Defense Secretary revealed that Anthropic has been designated a Supply-Chain Risk to national security.
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“Effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic. Anthropic will continue to provide the Department of War its services for a period of no more than six months to allow for a seamless transition to a better and more patriotic service.”
What does the designation mean?
The Pentagon’s supply-chain risk designation is typically reserved for companies in adversary nations, which means that defense contractors could be barred from deploying Anthropic’s AI as part of work for the Pentagon. The defense industrial base includes tens of thousands of contractors, including major public companies.
Anthropic had won a $200 million ceiling Pentagon contract last year.
