Pentagon moves to designate Anthropic as a supply-chain risk

President Trump directed federal agencies to cease use of all Anthropic products after the company's public dispute with the Department of Defense. The president allowed for a six-month phase-out period for departments using the products. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth directed the Department of War to designate Anthropic a Supply-Chain Risk to National Security. The designation takes effect immediately. No contractor, supplier or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic, the secretary wrote. Anthropic said Friday that while the company has not heard from the government directly, it will challenge any supply chain risk designation in court. The Pentagon dispute centered on Anthropic's refusal to allow its AI models to be used to power either mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. Secretary Hegseth found the restrictions unduly restrictive. CEO Dario Amodei reiterated his stance in a public post. He wrote that the company's strong preference is to continue to serve the Department and its warfighters with the two requested safeguards in place and that it will work to enable a smooth transition if the Department chooses to offboard the company.