US Defense Undersecretary Emil Michael believes that Anthropic’s Claude AI model could pollute the Pentagon’s supply chain. The Dario Amodei-led AI firm has sued the US Department of Defense for labelling it as a supply chain risk after a fallout over unrestricted AI use.
Michael told CNBC that Anthropic’s model had a “different policy preference” baked in, as compared to the Pentagon, which could pollute the entire supply chain.
Why did Pentagon designate Anthropic as a supply chain risk?
Earlier this month, Anthropic was designated as a supply chain risk by the Pentagon for failing to meet its demands for unrestricted AI use. The US Military wanted access to the AI model for “all lawful purposes.” However, Anthropic drew red lines over potential use of AI for mass domestic surveillance or the development of autonomous weapons.
Now, Emil Michael has stated that this different policy preference was the reason that the Dario Amodei-led startup was given this label. He said, “That’s really where the supply chain risk designation came from.”
But why? Michael claims that this could make things ineffective in combat. He explained, “We can’t have a company that has a different policy preference that is baked into the model through its constitution, its soul, its policy preferences, and pollutes the supply chain.” Emil added, “So our warfighters are getting ineffective weapons, ineffective body armor, ineffective protection.”
Do note that the supply chain risk label is usually reserved for foreign adversaries such as China’s Huawei. Anthropic has filed a lawsuit challenging this designation.
Pentagon is still using Claude
While the US government has mandated that Anthropic’s AI systems be replaced, things are not as simple. Anthropic is the only AI company that has custom AI models embedded in the US Military’s classified networks. As such, the Pentagon has planned for a six-month transition period as it switches to OpenAI.
Anthropic’s models are believed to be in use in the US’ strikes on Iran. As per reports, Claude has been embedded into Maven Smart System, which is built by data mining company Palantir. The system is key in real-time selection of targets in the operation.
However, defense contractors and vendors, including Palantir will now be required to cut ties with Anthropic.
For defense agencies, shifting away from Anthropic’s technology requires a careful process. Michael acknowledged, “This is not just Outlook where you could delete it from your desktop.”
Anthropic receives public support
Anthropic has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, calling the designation “unprecedented and unlawful.” Anthropic said in a filing that the company could lose hundreds of millions of dollars worth of contracts due to this decision.
The AI startup has received support from the public. After the fallout, Claude saw a huge surge in downloads, and topped the Apple Appstore charts in the US. Many have even ditched ChatGPT in favour of Claude, following OpenAI’s deal with the Pentagon.
Despite the transition, Anthropic’s technology remains integrated into various enterprise platforms. Major tech companies like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have indicated they will continue offering Anthropic’s AI tools to their clients, as long as it does not directly involve the Pentagon.
