President Donald Trump announced that he was directing federal agencies to “IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of” technology from AI giant Anthropic, adding there would be a “Six Month phase out period” for agencies using the company’s products.
In a post on Truth Social, criticized “the Leftwing nuts jobs at Anthropic” for having “made a DISASTROUS MISTAKE trying to STRONG-ARM the Department of War.” Trump also wrote that the United States “WILL NEVER ALLOW A RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY TO DICTATE HOW OUR GREAT MILITARY FIGHTS AND WINS WARS.”
“I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology,” Trump said. “We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again! There will be a Six Month phase out period for Agencies like the Department of War who are using Anthropic’s products, at various levels.”
Breitbart News’s Lucas Nolan reported that Anthropic is engaged in “contentious negotiations with the Pentagon,” and that the “dispute centers on Anthropic’s insistence on specific safeguards regarding how its AI models” can be used by the Department of War:
CNBC reports that AI startup Anthropic finds itself locked in contentious negotiations with the Pentagon over the terms of its defense contract, with discussions remaining ongoing as of Thursday. The dispute centers on Anthropic’s insistence on specific safeguards regarding how its AI models can be deployed by the military.
Trump’s post continued in part:
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL NEVER ALLOW A RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY TO DICTATE HOW OUR GREAT MILITARY FIGHTS AND WINS WARS! That decision belongs to YOUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, and the tremendous leaders I appoint to run our Military.
The Leftwing nut jobs an Anthropic have made a DISASTROUS MISTAKE trying to STRONG-ARM the Department of War, and force them to obey their Terms of Service instead of our Constitution. Their selfishness is putting AMERICAN LIVES at risk, our Troops in danger, and our National Security in JEOPARDY.
“Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth wrote in a post on X, in which he tagged Anthropic and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.
According to a report, Hegseth was “approaching a decision to terminate business connections with Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI system.” A “senior Pentagon official” explained to Axios that Hegseth was thinking about “potentially classifying” Anthropic “as a supply chain risk.”
“Anthropic better get their act together, and be helpful during this phase out period, or I will use the Full Power of the Presidency to make them comply, with major civil and criminal consequences to follow,” Trump added in his post.
Amodei has previously issued a statement acknowledging that the Department of War has the right “to select contractors most aligned with their vision,” but that “given the substantial value” of the technology provided by Anthropic, he hopes “they reconsider.”
