Trump forbids use of Anthropic from all federal agencies after company ‘tried to STRONG-ARM the Department of War’

Anthropic was awarded a $200 million contract in 2025 ad now they are trying to dictate how the product will be used by the Pentagon. Anthropic head Dario Amodei wants to restrict the products from being used either for autonomous weapons or for mass surveillance.

"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 said.

"The Leftwing nut jobs at Anthropic have made a DISASTROUS MISTAKE trying to STRONG-ARM the Department of War, and force them to obey their Terms of Service instead of our Constitution. Their selfishness is putting AMERICAN LIVES at risk, our Troops in danger, and our 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. 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, at various levels. Anthropic better get their act together, and be helpful during this phase out period, or I will use the Full Power of the Presidency to make them comply, with major civil and criminal consequences to follow.

"WE will decide the fate of our Country — NOT some out-of-control, Radical Left AI company run by people who have no idea what the real World is all about. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

The beef between Anthropic and the Pentagon comes as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has been engaging with weapons and defense companies to create a greater supply of weapons guided by artificial intelligence. Anthropic recently told the War Dept. that they don't want their tech to be used for these kinds of purposes. The War Dept. designated the company a "supply chain risk" and now has to pull the company's tech from their supply and software chain.

They're the only company so far that's deployed their AI large language model, Claude, on War Dept. classified networks or shared Claude with national security customers, Axios notes. Claude was even used to aid the military in carrying out the raid in Caracas that ousted Nicolas Maduro. But now, Anthropic wants assurances that their AI products won't be used either to spy "en masse" on Americans or to develop autonomous weapons, those that target, aim, and fire without humans pulling the trigger.

"We are having productive conversations, in good faith, with DoW on how to continue that work and get these new and complex issues right," said an Anthropic spokesperson. The Pentagon has also been negotiating with OpenAI, Google, and Elon Musk's xAI, but those are miles behind Claude, Pentagon officials say.

"It will be an enormous pain in the a** to disentangle, and we are going to make sure they pay a price for forcing our hand like this," said an official with the Pentagon. That price is naming the company a "supply chain risk," meaning that companies that want to do business with the War Dept. can't do business with Anthropic.

Now, Trump has made that the bottom line for the whole of federal government. Hegseth shared the President's post, saying "Thank you for your attention to this matter," a common sign-off from the president.

https://twitter.com/PeteHegseth/status/2027487514395832410?s=20