Overview
- Anthropic rejected Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s demand to lift use restrictions, saying it will not support mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons.
- The Pentagon warned it could cancel Anthropic’s roughly $200 million contracts or invoke the Defense Production Act, a step that could force compliance and likely trigger legal challenges.
- Defense officials asked Boeing and Lockheed Martin to assess dependence on Anthropic’s systems, signaling potential supply‑chain repercussions.
- OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has sought to mediate and confirmed a Defense Department arrangement that preserves bans on mass surveillance and weapon autonomy for its own technology.
- President Donald Trump urged federal agencies to stop using Anthropic’s tools, escalating political pressure on government procurement.