President Donald Trump has ordered federal agencies to phase out the use of artificial intelligence technology developed by Anthropic following a high-profile dispute between the company and the Pentagon over AI safety and military use, according to reporting by the Associated Press.
Trump announced the decision Friday, directing most federal agencies to immediately stop using Anthropic’s systems while granting the Department of Defense a six-month transition period to remove the technology from military platforms where it is already embedded. The move came shortly before a Pentagon deadline requiring Anthropic to allow unrestricted military use of its AI tools or face potential consequences, the AP reported.
At the center of the conflict is a disagreement over how AI should be deployed in national security settings. Anthropic, maker of the chatbot Claude, said it could not agree to contract terms that might allow its technology to be used for mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. CEO Dario Amodei said the company sought assurances that safeguards would remain in place, but argued that proposed language could allow those protections to be bypassed, according to the AP.
Defense officials have pushed back, stating the military has no intention of using AI for unlawful surveillance or autonomous weapons without human oversight. Pentagon leaders have said they want broad flexibility to use AI tools for lawful purposes, but details of how the technology would be applied have not been fully outlined.
The dispute has intensified debate across the technology industry, with some executives and employees at rival companies publicly supporting Anthropic’s stance. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told CNBC he largely trusted Anthropic’s safety approach, while other tech leaders aligned with the Trump administration criticized the company’s position, the AP reported.
The federal phase-out could benefit competing AI firms, including Elon Musk’s xAI and other contractors such as Google and OpenAI, which already hold defense agreements. The Pentagon has indicated it may continue negotiating with alternative providers as it seeks AI systems for military applications.
Anthropic did not immediately comment on Trump’s announcement, according to the Associated Press.
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