Why Anthropic and the US Government are Feuding Over AI

The US Department of War, in its plans to weaponise AI for domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons, has locked horns with AI pioneer Anthropic.

Being one of the first AI companies to work with the US government and military, Anthropic tools are widely deployed in various levels and have been engaged in classified operations since 2024. 

The fallout happened as US President Donald Trump and Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, pushed the company to remove AI safeguards to allow “any lawful use” of Anthropic’s technology for military purposes.

The company refused, stating that it could not in “good conscience accede to their request” as legal constraints have not yet caught up with the power of AI. 

As Co-Founder and CEO of Anthropic, Dario Amodei explains: “In a narrow set of cases, we believe AI can undermine, rather than defend, democratic values. 

“Some uses are also simply outside the bounds of what today’s technology can safely and reliably do. 

“Two such use cases have never been included in our contracts with the Department of War and we believe they should not be included now.”

The two cases Dario clarified, includes mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. 

Trump and Hegseth's Anthropic face off 

Following public and private negotiations with Anthropic, where it refused to comply with the Department of War, Pete Hegseth designated the company a “supply chain risk”. 

The designation could mean that organisations engaged in business with the US military will no longer be able to deal with Anthropic. 

The AI company retorted saying that: “No amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War will change our position on mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons.”

Anthropic also announced that it will challenge the designation in a court of law.

“Designating Anthropic as a supply chain risk would be an unprecedented action – one historically reserved for US adversaries, never before publicly applied to an American company,” the company notes in a statement. 

“We are deeply saddened by these developments. As the first frontier AI company to deploy models in the US government’s classified networks, Anthropic has supported American warfighters since June 2024 and has every intention of continuing to do so.”

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social ordering all federal agencies to stop using Anthropic.

“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," he said.

AI enabled mass surveillance 

AI driven mass surveillance, Darios notes: “presents serious, novel risks to our fundamental liberties”.

The legality of surveillance is questioned by Dario saying that laws haven't caught up with the capabilities of AI, which he explains can be used to paint a comprehensive picture of a person’s life from scattered data points. 

Dario points out: “Under current law, the government can purchase detailed records of Americans’ movements, web browsing and associations from public sources without obtaining a warrant, a practice the Intelligence Community has acknowledged raises privacy concerns and that has generated bipartisan opposition in Congress.”

Anthropic’s refusal to comply with the Pentagon's demands hinges on its belief that “mass domestic surveillance of Americans constitutes a violation of fundamental rights".

AI-powered, fully automated weapons 

While the company acknowledges that AI enabled autonomous weapons will be necessary to national defence, Anthropic says today’s systems have a long way to go before achieving the level of reliability needed for such applications.  

Autonomous weapons, Dario says, require guardrails that simply don’t exist today and autonomous systems would require oversight as the systems lack the critical judgement of experienced troops, making fully autonomous weapons dangerous to soldiers and civilians. 

Anthropic’s offer to work with the Department of War on R&D to improve the technology for weapons use was not accepted.

Dario Amodei’s statement acknowledged that it is the Department’s prerogative to select contractors most aligned with their vision, but expressed hope that they would reconsider. 

The CEO’s statement also added cooperative sentiment in case the Pentagon shall decide otherwise: “Should the Department choose to offboard Anthropic, we will work to enable a smooth transition to another provider, avoiding any disruption to ongoing military planning, operations or other critical missions.”

Despite this, Trump’s post accelerated hostility when he wrote: “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.”