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The Department of War is facing a battle on the technological front as it issues an ultimatum to AI startup Anthropic, giving the company a Friday deadline on whether to allow the DOW to use its model “for all lawful purposes.”
Anthropic’s model in question, Claude, is a powerful AI tool. Recently, the company launched Claude Opus 4.6, which the company described as an improvement on its predecessor’s coding skills. Claude, like most AI models, can be integrated into “a range of everyday work tasks,” like financial analyses and creating presentations.
According to Politico, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reportedly met with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei this week amid the company’s alleged refusal to give the military total access to Claude.
“Here’s what we’re asking: Allow the Pentagon to use Anthropic’s model for all lawful purposes,” said Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell on Thursday. “This is a simple, common-sense request that will prevent Anthropic from jeopardizing critical military operations and potentially putting our warfighters at risk. We will not let ANY company dictate the terms regarding how we make operational decisions. They have until 5:01 PM ET on Friday to decide. Otherwise, we will terminate our partnership with Anthropic and deem them a supply chain risk for DOW.”
According to Politico’s report, the U.S. military utilized Anthropic’s Claude AI model during its successful raid in Venezuela, during its operation to capture Nicolas Maduro. Since then, it seems that Anthropic has been less-than-enthused about how the Pentagon has used its technology.
It’s unclear why Anthropic has allegedly balked at allowing the Pentagon to use its tech at this point. After all, the company signed a whopping $200 million contract with the then-Department of Defense to “advance responsible AI in defense operations.”
There seems to be some debate about it online, with some social media users speculating that Anthropic’s reported stonewalling could be based on possible ethical concerns, like the development of domestic surveillance tech.
However, DOW Spokesman Parnell refuted such rumors in his statement on Thursday.
“The Department of War has no interest in using AI to conduct mass surveillance of Americans (which is illegal) nor do we want to use AI to develop autonomous weapons that operate without human involvement,” he said. “This narrative is fake and being peddled by leftists in the media.”
If the DOW does indeed label Anthropic as a “supply chain risk,” it could have serious fallout for the company. Such a label from the DOW is often used for companies hostile to the U.S., and, as stated by Parnell, could result in contract termination. It also seems likely that it would affect the company’s ability to win future federal contracts.
