Anthropic has been in the spotlight for initially refusing an AI deal with the US Defence Department over concerns regarding AI reliability, mass surveillance, and autonomous weapons. Now, CEO Dario Amodei is reportedly re-engaging with the Pentagon, potentially to avoid exclusion from the military’s supply chain. According to a report by the Financial Times, the company is in discussions with Emil Michael, the under-secretary of defence for research and engineering, on a deal that would define how the US military can use Anthropic’s AI models.
If an agreement is finalized, the Pentagon could continue using Anthropic’s AI tools, and the company would likely avoid receiving the damaging “supply chain risk” designation that has been looming. Last week, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that Anthropic could be labeled as a supply chain risk, though the designation has not yet been made official.
Anthropic had previously drawn a firm line regarding the use of its AI tools by the military, refusing to remove two critical safeguards from its Pentagon contract: a ban on using its models for mass domestic surveillance and a restriction against deploying fully autonomous weapons systems. In a blog post, Amodei emphasized that AI is not yet reliable enough to operate without human oversight. Despite this stance, the company is now reportedly back in negotiations with the Pentagon, though no official deal has been confirmed yet.
While Anthropic’s cautious approach with the US military could risk its status in government supply chains, its Claude AI chatbot has gained significant popularity among users. In contrast, OpenAI faced heavy backlash for striking a deal with the Pentagon, triggering a social media “Cancel ChatGPT” movement and a reported 295% surge in app uninstalls last week.
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