Pentagon plans to ban Anthropic? U.S. Secretary of Defense: Restricted military use could pose a national security threat

The U.S. Department of Defense is evaluating whether to place artificial intelligence company Anthropic on the “supply chain risk blacklist,” effectively banning its flagship model Claude within the defense system. The trigger for this comes from disagreements over military applications, with Anthropic insisting on establishing logical safeguards that prohibit the use of its products for surveillance and weapons; the Pentagon, on the other hand, believes military AI must serve all purposes.

Military cooperation takes a sharp turn: Anthropic faces “supply chain risk” review

Axios reports that the Pentagon is considering severing business ties with Anthropic and plans to list it on the “supply chain risk blacklist.” This is typically a punitive measure aimed at foreign adversaries, potentially prohibiting all companies working with the U.S. military from using Anthropic’s AI systems.

Currently, Anthropic’s model Claude has been integrated into multiple military classified systems. If forcibly removed, contractors could face significant technical and compliance costs, with potential affected defense contracts estimated at around 200 million dollars.

Maduros operation sparks controversy: boundaries of AI military use come to light

One of the key issues is that Claude was used in a military operation targeting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January. This operation was successfully carried out through a collaboration between Anthropic and data analytics firm Palantir.

According to reports, Anthropic executives later inquired about the specific use and hinted at concerns regarding their model being employed in actions involving live fire. This drew dissatisfaction from the Pentagon, which believed companies should not question specific military uses under existing cooperation agreements. Subsequently, both sides engaged in multiple rounds of negotiations on the scope of AI applications, including surveillance, intelligence gathering, and weapons development.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed the news, framing it as a national security issue: “Partners must be willing to help our warriors win any battle. Ultimately, this is about the safety of our troops and the American people.”

When ethics safeguards meet national security needs: Pentagon takes a tough stance

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has consistently advocated for clear ethical boundaries for AI. The company’s usage policies explicitly prohibit models from being used for weapon design, domestic surveillance, and fully autonomous weapons systems, unless evaluated separately under specific contractual safeguards.

(from tools of tyranny to fears of losing control: Anthropic CEO explains five major risks of powerful AI to humanity)

However, the Pentagon believes military AI tools must be usable for “all lawful purposes,” emphasizing that real battlefield scenarios often involve gray areas, and overly rigid restrictions could weaken operational flexibility. It is also reported that the Department of Defense has applied similar standards to other AI suppliers, including OpenAI, Google, and xAI (Grok).

(SpaceX participates in Pentagon drone tech bidding, Musk’s challenge in AI military development)

Tech giants intensify competition: Musk criticizes Claude for “racial bias”

During the Department of Defense review, Anthropic also faces public criticism from competitors. Tesla and xAI founder Elon Musk recently accused Claude of ideological bias and questioned whether its outputs are unfriendly to certain races. Since xAI and Anthropic are direct competitors in large language models and defense markets, this move is seen as part of industry rivalry.

Currently, officials admit that in certain government and classified applications, other models still lag behind Claude, creating a dilemma over whether to switch providers quickly. If the Pentagon ultimately designates Anthropic as a supply chain risk, it would mark the first time the U.S. has imposed sanctions on domestic tech companies over AI usage scope, symbolizing a new mode of defense tech cooperation.

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