Hegseth gives Anthropic deadline to give military full access to its AI

Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth has issued a deadline to Anthropic’s CEO to give the U.S. military unfettered access to its AI model, Claude. It comes after the Department of Defense (DoD) used Claude in the raid in Venezuela that led to the capture of then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Anthropic has repeatedly asked the DoD to agree to guardrails that would prevent it from using the AI to conduct mass surveillance of Americans, according to multiple reports. On top of that, the company’s public usage policy prohibits using its products to develop weapons or facilitate violence.

Defense officials have pointed out that using the technology to spy on Americans is illegal.

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87% of Americans say it is at least somewhat likely that foreign governments will use AI to attack the U.S. within the next two decades, according to Gallup.

What Hegseth is saying

In a meeting Tuesday, Hegseth told Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei he won’t let any company dictate the terms under which the Pentagon makes operational decisions, or object to individual use cases, according to a report from Axios.

Now, Axios says Hegseth is considering invoking the Defense Production Act to force Anthropic to let the military use its AI. He has given the company until the end of the day Friday to do so voluntarily or face consequences.

The Defense Production Act gives the president the power to require companies “to prioritize and accept contracts for or materials and services as necessary to promote the national defense.”

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Hegseth has already threatened punitive measures against Anthropic, including canceling its contract with the DoD and designating it a “supply chain risk.” That designation would mean anyone who wants to do business with the DoD must cut ties with Anthropic.

Claude is the only AI model currently available in the military’s classified systems, although the DoD did make deals last year with several major AI firms, not just Anthropic. Those include Google and OpenAI.

Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief

Ella Greene

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