President Trump on Friday directed federal agencies to phase out their use of artificial intelligence products from Anthropic, escalating a standoff between the company and the Pentagon over military applications of its technology. Posting on Truth Social, Trump labeled Anthropic a "radical Left AI company" and said it had erred in challenging the Defense Department. The government and the company were still negotiating when Trump made the announcement, the New York Times reports. The Pentagon, which wants no limits other than federal law placed on its AI use, had set a deadline for reaching an agreement of 5:01pm Friday.
Anthropic had objected to the government using its technology for mass surveillance of Americans and for autonomous weapons that operate without human oversight. Congressional Democrats sided with Anthropic on Friday. Sen. Mark Warner said Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were trying to intimidate a leading American company. That could hurt military readiness, he said. Administration officials had threatened to invoke the Defense Production Act to force Anthropic to allow access to its AI system, per the Washington Post. It wasn't clear that the law could be used on the company.
Employees at OpenAI and Google signed letters backing Anthropic's stance and urging AI companies not to yield to the Pentagon's demands. Trump gave the Pentagon and some other agencies six months to wind down their use of Anthropic products. If Trump's announcement stands, Elon Musk's competing chatbot, Grok, could benefit. And the decision could serve as a warning to Google and OpenAI, per the AP, which also have contracts to supply AI tools to the military.
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