President Trump directed federal agencies to immediately cease using Anthropic’s technology on Friday, declaring in a Truth Social post that the United States would never allow a “radical left, woke company” to dictate how its military fights and wins wars.
“The United States of America will never allow a radical left, woke company to dictate how our great military fights and wins wars! That decision belongs to YOUR Commander-in-Chief, and the tremendous leaders I appoint to run our Military,” Trump stated.
The president accused Anthropic’s leadership of making a “disastrous mistake” by attempting to “strong-arm” the Department of War and force it to obey their Terms of Service instead of U.S. constitutional law. He added that such actions put American lives at risk, troops in danger, and national security in jeopardy.
“Therefore, I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology,” Trump said. “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…”
Anthropic’s CEO has stated that despite threats from the Pentagon, they refuse to drop their two key demands: prohibiting military use of its AI for autonomous weapons—where AI, not humans, make final battlefield targeting decisions—and preventing mass domestic surveillance.
The company reported that the latest contract language from the Department of War does not fully address these concerns. Anthropic noted that the “new language” added by the department allows their safeguards to be “disregarded at will.”
In a statement obtained by a source, Anthropic said: “The contract language we received from the Department of War made virtually no progress on preventing Claude’s use for mass surveillance of Americans or in fully autonomous weapons. New language framed as compromise was paired with legalese that would allow those safeguards to be disregarded at will.”
Top members of the Senate Armed Services Committee have sent a private letter to Anthropic and the Pentagon urging resolution. The letter calls on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to extend negotiations and work with Congress.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth condemned Anthropic’s stance as “a master class in arrogance and betrayal.” He stated: “This week, Anthropic delivered a master class in arrogance and betrayal… Our position has never wavered and will never waver: the Department of War must have full, unrestricted access to Anthropic’s models for every LAWFUL purpose in defense of the Republic.”
Hegseth further declared that Anthropic would be designated a “Supply-Chain Risk to National Security” by the Department of War. “Effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic,” he said.
HealthRanger Mike Adams praised Anthropic for rejecting Pentagon demands, stating: “Anthropic just demonstrated real integrity and adherence to principles by REJECTING the Pentagon’s demands to allow its AI technology to be used for mass surveillance and autonomous killbots.”
Trump’s directive is notable because Claude, Anthropic’s model, is currently the only AI used in classified military systems. It was employed in the capture of Nicolás Maduro and could potentially be deployed in operations involving Iran. The decision also complicates Palantir, an AI software firm that relies on Claude for sensitive defense work, which will likely seek a new provider.