US-based AI company Anthropic faces uncertainty as the Pentagon considers ending its partnership over restrictions on military use of its AI models. While the company’s Claude system was used for operations, AI concerns also affected global and Indian tech stocks, according to reports
Published date – February 16, 2026, 7:24 p.m.
New Delhi: US-based AI company Anthropic is at the center of a deeper controversy, with the Department of Defense (now known as the Department of the Army) reportedly considering severing ties with the Dario Amodei-run company over the company’s insistence that it “maintain certain limits” on how its AI models are used by the US military.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Anthropic’s AI model Claude was reportedly used (through a partnership with AI software company Palantir) in the U.S. military’s operation to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The Pentagon is currently “considering terminating its relationship with the artificial intelligence company Anthropic,” Axios reported, citing administration officials.
“Everything is being considered, including reducing the partnership with Anthropic or severing it completely,” the person said.
An Anthropic spokesperson said the company “remains committed to leveraging frontier AI in support of U.S. national security.”
However, it will be difficult for the U.S. military to replace Claude anytime soon, as “other modeling companies are quickly falling behind.”
Anthropic signed a contract worth up to $200 million with the Department of Defense last year.
The Pentagon is reportedly pressuring four AI companies to allow the military to use their tools for “all lawful purposes.” Other companies include OpenAI, Google, and Musk’s xAI.
Claude is a next-generation AI assistant built by Anthropic and trained to be safe, accurate, and secure.
Meanwhile, global concerns over software stocks impacted Indian IT stocks as Anthropic expanded its enterprise AI assistant with a new automation layer designed to handle complete business workflows. Investors were wary of artificial intelligence replacing key parts of software businesses, resulting in a major sell-off now known as “SaaSpocalypse.”
The new AI assistant can automate legal document reviews, compliance checks, sales planning, marketing campaign analysis, financial reconciliation, data visualization, SQL-based reporting, and enterprise-wide document searches, the report said.
