pete-hegseth-a5631f34·2 events·first seen Aliases: Pete Hegseth
The U.S. Department of War designated Anthropic a supply-chain risk to national security after the company refused to remove restrictions on Claude's use for domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons, effectively banning it from military and contractor use. OpenAI signed a contract allowing use of its models 'for all lawful purposes' with ambiguous carve-outs for surveillance and autonomous weapons, which Altman later called rushed and renegotiated. The standoff culminated in a Trump Truth Social post threatening civil and criminal consequences against Anthropic, followed by Hegseth's formal designation. The episode marks a significant precedent: the supply-chain risk designation, previously applied only to foreign companies, was used against a U.S. AI lab over its own usage policies.
Anthropic has issued a public statement responding to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's announcement that the Department of War intends to designate Anthropic a supply chain risk, following a breakdown in negotiations. The dispute centers on two exceptions Anthropic requested to Claude's use: mass domestic surveillance of Americans and fully autonomous weapons. Anthropic argues the designation is legally unsound under 10 USC 3252, would only affect DoW contract work rather than commercial customers, and pledges to challenge any formal designation in court. The company states it has supported US government classified networks since June 2024 and intends to continue all lawful national security uses.