President Donald Trump announced Friday that he would ban federal agencies from using the services of the AI company Anthropic.
The declaration comes after months of increasingly heated rhetoric between the Department of Defense and Anthropic over the military’s use of the company’s systems.
“I am directing all federal agencies of the United States Government to immediately stop using Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it. We don’t want it. We will never do business with them again!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company, led by CEO Dario Amodei, made clear during months of contract negotiations with the Pentagon that it would not allow its AI systems to be used directly for domestic surveillance or lethal autonomous weapons.
The Pentagon insists that AI systems must be allowed to be used for “any lawful use” that could cross Anthropic’s red line.
“I believe deeply in the existential importance of leveraging AI to protect the United States and other democracies,” Amodei said in a statement Thursday night, but added that “the use of these systems for domestic mass surveillance is inconsistent with democratic values.” Amodei added: “Currently, frontier AI systems are not reliable enough to power fully autonomous weapons.”
In a series of tweets late Thursday night, Undersecretary of Defense Emile Michael wrote that Amodei is “a liar with a God complex. He wants nothing more than to seek personal control of the U.S. military and is comfortable putting our nation’s security at risk.”
Earlier Thursday, Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell wrote in X that the Pentagon’s desire to use Anthropic’s models for any lawful purpose is “a simple, common-sense request to prevent Anthropic from endangering critical military operations.”
Anthropic currently has a contract worth up to $200 million with the Department of Defense to “advance responsible AI in defense operations,” working with data analytics company Palantir to provide AI services on classified defense and intelligence networks.
Throughout Friday, a chorus of lawmakers called on the parties to de-escalate and reach an amicable resolution, in contrast to the relative silence from Anthropic and the Pentagon in the hours before the deadline.
Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said in a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth released Friday afternoon that the Pentagon’s “threat to punish U.S. AI companies that refuse to waive basic safeguards regarding the use of their AI models is an appalling abuse of government power.”
Rep. George Whiteside, D-Calif., told Hegseth in a letter released Friday morning that he was concerned “his threats to force security policy changes on an accelerated schedule could push the department toward a broader rollout without sufficient guardrails.”
Unlike many major defense technologies, today’s major AI systems are primarily developed in the private sector by companies such as Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google. As the capabilities of these systems improve, the Department of Defense is forced to negotiate usage policies with Anthropic or choose a service with a poor track record. Until this week, Anthropic was the only major AI company authorized to provide services on the classified network.
In a memo sent to OpenAI employees Thursday night and seen by NBC News, CEO Sam Altman said the company would largely follow Anthropic’s approach if it were in the same position as the Department of Defense.
“We have long believed that AI should not be used for mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons, and that humans should always be on top of high-stakes automated decision-making. These are our main red lines,” he wrote.
Altman added: “This is no longer just an issue between Anthropic and Dow. This is an industry-wide issue, and it’s important that we make our position clear.”
It’s unclear how other big AI companies will react. Google, Meta, and xAI did not respond to requests for comment.
