Kamal Ghorui
Artificial intelligence firm Anthropic said on Friday (local time) that it will challenge Pentagon’s decision to classify the company as a supply-chain risk in court, according to a Reuters report. This comes hours after US President Donald Trump directed federal agencies to stop using the firm’s technology. Trump had ordered every federal department to “immediately” cease using Anthropic’s products, while the agencies currently dependent on its tools have been given a six-month window to phase them out. In a sharply critical Truth Social post, Trump described the company’s leadership as “Leftwing nut jobs”, signalling a deepening rift between the White House and key AI suppliers to the Pentagon. “THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL NEVER ALLOW A RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY TO DICTATE HOW OUR GREAT MILITARY FIGHTS AND WINS WARS!” Trump wrote. He argued that decisions on how the United States conducts military operations “belong to YOUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF”, and accused Anthropic of attempting to “STRONG-ARM the Department of War” into adhering to its terms of service “instead of our Constitution”. Trump further alleged that the company’s “selfishness is putting AMERICAN LIVES at risk” and leaving national security “in JEOPARDY”. He instructed “EVERY Federal Agency” to stop using Anthropic technology and warned of “major civil and criminal consequences” if the firm failed to comply. “We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again!” he wrote. The confrontation comes after days of mounting friction between the administration and Anthropic. The company’s chatbot Claude has been adopted within parts of the US government, including in classified settings. At the heart of the disagreement are safeguards that Anthropic says are essential to ensure that its AI is not used for mass surveillance of Americans or deployed in fully autonomous weapons systems. Chief executive Dario Amodei has maintained that the company “cannot in good conscience accede” to Pentagon demands for expanded usage rightsDefence secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly cautioned that continued refusal could lead to the contract being scrapped and designated the company as a “supply chain risk”. Taking to social media platform X, he said, “effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic.” The standoff has also split opinion across Silicon Valley. Elon Musk has publicly backed the administration’s stance, while Sam Altman voiced support for Anthropic’s safety concerns, saying he largely trusted the company’s intentions.
