The US artificial intelligence company Anthropic said it will not bow to Pentagon pressure to allow unrestricted military use of its technology, citing fears it could enable mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons.
“Using these systems for mass domestic surveillance is incompatible with democratic values,” said CEO Dario Amodei, adding that AI systems are not yet reliable enough to be trusted to power deadly weapons without a human in ultimate control. “We will not knowingly provide a product that puts America’s warfighters and civilians at risk.”
Anthropic, alongside OpenAI, Google and Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot, was commissioned by the Pentagon in 2025 to supply AI models for a range of military applications under a contract worth $200 million (€170 million). After a meeting with Amodei, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly gave Anthropic an ultimatum to open its technology for use in a “classified setting” by Friday, as the other companies have, or risk losing the government contract.
Military officials warned they could escalate by designating the company a supply chain risk or invoking the Defense Production Act to broaden authority over its products. Amodei called those threats “inherently contradictory,” saying they label Anthropic’s systems both a “security risk” and “essential to national security.” He also criticized the administration’s framing, saying “Anthropic understands that the Department of War, not private companies, makes military decisions,” and warned that in some cases AI can undermine, rather than defend, democratic values.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the military “has no interest in using AI to conduct mass surveillance of Americans (which is illegal) nor do we want to use AI to develop autonomous weapons that operate without human involvement.” Officials confirmed one exchange between Anthropic and the Pentagon touched on intercontinental ballistic missiles, highlighting the sensitivity of the dispute. Parnell warned that opening access would prevent Anthropic from “jeopardizing critical military operations” and said, “We will not let ANY company dictate the terms regarding how we make operational decisions.”
Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he was “deeply disturbed” by reports that the Pentagon is “working to bully a leading US company,” arguing it shows the Department of Defense is ignoring AI governance and underscoring the need for Congress to enact strong, binding AI governance mechanisms for national security contexts.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery