Trump Orders Federal Agencies To Stop Using Anthropic AI ‘Immediately’ After Pentagon Clash, Calls Company ‘Radical Left’

On Friday, the US President Donald Trump directed all federal agencies to stop using technology from Anthropic immediately pitting the government against the AI company in a public dispute over AI system usage in the military.

Trump Orders Federal Agencies To Stop Using Anthropic AI ‘Immediately’ After Pentagon Clash, Calls Company ‘Radical Left’

Trump stated in one of his Truth Social posts that the US military would not be dictated to by a private owned company, and the Commander-in-Chief would be left to determine how AI is used in national defense. He ordered all federal departments to stop immediately using the technology of Anthropic and gave a six month transition timeline to those that currently used the tools it provides under threat of civil and criminal penalties in case the firm did not do so.

The order is preceded by increasing tensions between the Anthropic and the Pentagon regarding safeguards relating to the use of AI in the military. The management of Anthropic has opposed the demands to deploy its technology widely without any restrictions claiming that their systems cannot be deployed to conduct mass surveillance on Americans or fully autonomous weapons. CEO Dario Amodei said the company could not in good conscience accept such terms that may permit such safeguards to be circumvented. Anthropic also claimed that new contract language was introduced as a concession but with a clause that can allow restrictions to be overlooked with ethical and legal implications on the way its technology can be applied.

According to the warnings issued by the defense officials, the inability to resolve the dispute would lead to the classification of Anthropic as a supply chain risk, which would impact corporate alliances and government contracts. Another reason given by the Pentagon was the potential application of the Defense Production Act to increase federal control over the development of AI in the name of national security. One official of the Pentagon clarified that the military is interested in lawful applications only, and it does not have any interest to utilize AI to conduct illegal surveillance or uncontrolled weapons. Anthropic was provided with a deadline to answer the demands of the Pentagon, and the authorities indicated that the agreements may be canceled or an even more extended regulation may be applied in case of a lack of an agreement.

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