"Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei drew a sharp red line 24 hours before the deadline, declaring his company "cannot in good conscience accede" to the Pentagon's final demand to allow unrestricted use of its technology. If Amodei doesn't budge, military officials have warned they will not just pull Anthropic's contract but also "deem them a supply chain risk," a designation typically stamped on foreign adversaries that could derail the company's critical partnerships with other businesses."
"Anthropic said it sought narrow assurances from the Pentagon that Claude won't be used for mass surveillance of Americans or in fully autonomous weapons. But after months of private talks exploded into public debate, it said in a Thursday statement that new contract language "framed as compromise was paired with legalese that would allow those safeguards to be disregarded at will.""
"If Amodei were to cave, he could lose trust in the booming AI industry, particularly from top talent drawn to the company for its promises of responsibly building better-than-human AI that, without safeguards, could pose catastrophic risks."
Anthropic faces a critical standoff with the Trump administration's Pentagon over military use of its Claude AI chatbot. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued an ultimatum demanding the company remove ethical restrictions on its technology by Friday or face consequences. CEO Dario Amodei rejected the demand, stating Anthropic cannot compromise its principles regarding mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. The Pentagon threatened not only contract termination but also designating Anthropic as a supply chain risk, a label typically reserved for foreign adversaries that could severely damage the company's business partnerships. Anthropic sought narrow safeguards ensuring Claude wouldn't enable mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons, but rejected Pentagon contract language that would allow these protections to be disregarded.
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