Trump Orders Federal Agencies to Halt Partnership with Anthropic
On Friday, President Trump declared that all federal agencies must “immediately cease” collaborating with the AI firm Anthropic, criticizing its leadership as “the crazy work of the left.”
This announcement abruptly concluded a significant conflict between Anthropic and the Department of Defense. The company had until 5:01 p.m. ET on Friday to remove restrictions on the use of its Claude chatbot for U.S. military purposes.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump expressed, “The left-wing lunatics at Anthropic made a disastrous mistake in trying to strengthen the Department of the Army and force it to follow the Terms of Service instead of the Constitution. Their self-interest is endangering American lives, our military, and national security.”
Continuing, he insisted, “Therefore, I am directing all federal agencies of the United States Government to immediately cease their use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and we won’t do business with them again!”
The Pentagon has chosen not to comment, while representatives from Anthropic have not responded to inquiries.
Trump indicated there would be a “six-month phase-out period” for the Department of Defense and other agencies that currently utilize Anthropic’s platform. Notably, the company had previously secured a $200 million contract with the Department of Defense last July.
If Anthropic proves uncooperative during this transition, Trump warned, “I will use the full power of the President to compel them to comply, with significant civil and criminal consequences.”
Anthropic, led by CEO Dario Amodei, is opposed to using its technology for mass surveillance of Americans or operating weapons autonomously. Presently, Claude is the only AI model deployed by the U.S. military in classified contexts.
As the compliance deadline approached, Amodei stated on Thursday that the company “cannot in good conscience comply with the Pentagon’s request.”
The Pentagon clarified that the dispute wasn’t about Anthropic’s ethical boundaries, asserting that the military only issues legal orders concerning AI usage.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s Grok was recently approved for classified use, and a senior Pentagon official noted that OpenAI and Google are “closer” to receiving similar clearance.
OpenAI’s Sam Altman mentioned that his company shares the same ethical concerns as Anthropic but suggested they might be able to negotiate a deal with the Department of Defense regarding their model’s use.
Tensions between the two sides escalated after Claude was involved in the operation targeting Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro in January.
During a meeting this past week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed prior claims that Anthropic had lodged complaints with fellow contractor Palantir about how its technology was deployed in the Maduro incident. In that meeting, Amodei denied any wrongdoing on Anthropic’s part.
It was previously reported that Anthropic’s connections to the Effective Altruism movement, as well as ties to Democratic donors like Reid Hoffman, had caught the Trump administration’s attention, complicating their governmental cooperation efforts.
