President Donald Trump has declared that the U.S. government will stop using artificial intelligence technology from Anthropic in all federal systems following a high-profile dispute with the Department of Defense (DoD) over ethical constraints on AI use.
Trump’s announcement, made via his social platform Truth Social, directs federal agencies to phase out Anthropic’s tools within six months and threatens broader consequences if the company fails to comply.
Anthropic is a leading AI startup behind the Claude model and emphasizes on safety guardrails on its AI.
Pentagon ultimatum to Anthropic and ethical red lines
Anthropic was given a deadline by Defense Department officials on Friday at 5:01 p.m. ET to remove limitations on the use of its AI model, Claude, for fully autonomous weapons or domestic mass surveillance.
Although the Pentagon has stated that it does not plan to employ AI in those ways, it does mandate that AI companies let the use of their models “for all lawful purposes.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanded that Anthropic remove the long-drawn ethical red lines around mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons systems.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei publicly rejected the demand, saying the company “cannot in good conscience accede” to requests that could compromise safety and democratic values.
Sam Altman aligns with Anthropic on Ethical AI use
The phaseout affects Anthropic’s Claude AI, a competitor to models from OpenAI, Google and Elon Musk’s xAI, and one of the few AI tools integrated into U.S. military systems and classified networks.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, signalled support for some of Anthropic’s ethical stances. Altman has publicly stated that he shares “red lines” against unrestricted military uses of AI similar to those Anthropic maintains, emphasising the risks of mass surveillance and unauthorised weaponisation.
On Friday morning, Altman told CNBC that businesses should collaborate with the military “as long as it is going to comply with legal protections.”
“THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL NEVER ALLOW A RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY…”
Trump wrote in his Truth Social post, “THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL NEVER ALLOW A RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY TO DICTATE HOW OUR GREAT MILITARY FIGHTS AND WINS WARS.”
In the pointed post, the president accused Anthropic of attempting to “STRONG-ARM” the Pentagon and force compliance with its own terms of service.
“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 will not do business with them again!” Trump wrote.
Trump announced that Anthropic’s products would be phased out for six months. “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,” he wrote.
Claude had been used for national security duties like cloud support and intelligence processing under a $200 million Pentagon contract.
