U.S. President Donald Trump has directed all federal agencies to immediately cease using Anthropic’s AI technology, escalating a public dispute between the company and the Department of War (DOW).
The order, announced on Truth Social, follows Anthropic’s refusal to remove safeguards that limit the use of its AI models, such as Claude, in mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons.
White House Rebukes Anthropic Over Military AI Access
Led by the President, the Defense Secretary, and other officials, took over social media to chastise Anthropic for failing to allow the military unrestricted use of its AI technology by a Friday deadline. The administration accused the AI firm of endangering national security after CEO Dario Amodei refused to back off over concerns about the company’s products being used in ways that would violate its safeguards.
The actions marked an extraordinary rebuke of the United States against one of the premier companies, which has kept its lead on national security-critical AI. Trump also reported that U.S law would constrain how AI is deployed on the battlefield, accompanied by the Pentagon seeking to preserve all flexibility in defense and not be limited by warnings from the technology’s creators against the powering of weapons aided by unreliable AI.
Responding to the Trump administration, Anthropic reportedly said it would challenge any risk designation in court by the Department of War (formerly Department of Defense). Anthropic also said that it would seek narrow assurances from the Pentagon that its AI chatbot Claude will not be used for mass surveillance of Americans or in fully autonomous weapons. In the meantime, the rival, OpenAI, announced its own deal to deploy technology in the Defense Department’s classified network.
Later in a statement, addressing the DOW threats, Dario highlighted the company’s current work with the department, including with the classified networks, and advocating for strong chip export controls to China. Though he said he would not agree to the terms of DOW.
Government Pushes Greater Control Over AI Firms
According to Trump’s announcement, although most of the agencies must stop using Anthropic’s technology immediately, the Department of War and others can, for now, still rely on it for six months. Trump also warned that if Anthropic does not cooperate during this transition, there will be major “civil and criminal consequences.”
The government’s effort to assert dominance over the internal decision-making of the company comes amid a wider clash over the AI’s role in national security concerns about how increasingly capable machines could be used in high-stakes situations.
However, the decision has drawn criticism from lawmakers. Meanwhile, competitors like OpenAI have affirmed similar ethical boundaries, while Elon Musk’s xAI stands to benefit as the Pentagon moves toward alternative AI providers.
