The U.S. Department of Defense has officially designated AI developer Anthropic and its Claude model as a supply chain risk, effective immediately. The move follows a standoff between CEO Dario Amodei and the Trump administration over the military's use of AI for surveillance and autonomous weaponry.
Anthropic has rejected a U.S. Department of Defense ultimatum demanding unconditional access to its AI technology, citing ethical concerns over mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. The standoff could trigger the first use of the Defense Production Act to compel an AI company's compliance with national security mandates.
Anthropic is facing a high-stakes ultimatum from U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to relax its AI safety protocols or forfeit its government contracts. The dispute centers on the military's desire to use Claude for domestic surveillance and autonomous weaponry following a controversial operation in Venezuela.
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