President Donald Trump is moving to ban the use of Anthropic’s technology in government agencies after the tech firm refused to bow down to the Pentagon’s demands.
Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave Anthropic until 5:00 pm Friday to agree to the department’s terms or risk facing severe consequences.
The Pentagon wanted Anthropic to loosen AI guardrails and allow the use of its models for any lawful purpose.
But Anthropic and CEO Dario Amodei redlined the use of Claude for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons.
“We cannot in good conscience accede to their request.”
Following the deadline’s expiration, Donald Trump says on Truth Social that Anthropic is trying to “strong-arm” the Department of War by forcing the agency to comply with its Terms of Service instead of the US Constitution.
“Therefore, 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 we will not do business with them again! There will be a six-month phase-out period for agencies like the Department of War that are using Anthropic’s products, at various levels. Anthropic better get their act together, and be helpful during this phase-out period, or I will use the Full Power of the Presidency to make them comply, with major civil and criminal consequences to follow.”
Secretary Hegseth says Anthropic just delivered a masterclass in “arrogance and betrayal” of how not to do business with the US government.
“Anthropic and its CEO, Dario Amodei, 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 Terms of Service of Anthropic’s defective altruism will never outweigh the safety, the readiness, or the lives of American troops on the battlefield.”
Meanwhile, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever congratulates Anthropic for taking a stand against the government.
“It’s extremely good that Anthropic has not backed down, and it’s significant that OpenAI has taken a similar stance.
In the future, there will be much more challenging situations of this nature, and it will be critical for the relevant leaders to rise up to the occasion, for fierce competitors to put their differences aside. Good to see that happen today.”
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