Overview
- On March 6, the Pentagon formally designated Anthropic a supply‑chain risk, barring its technology from Defense Department contracts in an unprecedented move against a U.S. company.
- Anthropic said it will challenge the action in court and reiterated its red lines that Claude not be used for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons.
- Pentagon R&D chief Emil Michael outlined how talks collapsed, citing fears a vendor could restrict access in critical moments and asserting the department cannot predict future lawful uses, with reported deployments in recent Venezuela and Iran operations sharpening the dispute.
- OpenAI reached a separate Pentagon agreement as CEO Sam Altman acknowledged internally the company cannot control how the military ultimately uses its models; a senior OpenAI robotics leader resigned in protest.
- Microsoft, Google and Amazon said Anthropic services remain available for non‑military customers, while app‑store data showed a surge in Claude downloads and higher ChatGPT deinstallations following the Pentagon news.