Anthropic digs in heels in dispute with Pentagon, source says
Anthropic has no intention of easing restrictions even as the Pentagon gives the AI start-up until Friday to relax AI military safeguards after a high-level meeting over autonomous weapons and domestic surveillance limits.
Image by Al Drago | Reuters
Artificial intelligence lab Anthropic has no intention of easing its usage restrictions for military purposes, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, adding that the two sides continue to talk following a meeting to discuss its future with the Pentagon.
The meeting between Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was scheduled to hash out a months-long dispute between the two sides.
The Pentagon has been pushing big AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, to make their AI tools available on classified networks without many of the standard restrictions the companies apply to users, Reuters reported exclusively this month.
Anthropic has refused to remove safeguards that would prevent its technology from being used to target weapons autonomously and conduct U.S. domestic surveillance.
Pentagon officials have argued the government should only be required to comply with U.S. law.
During the meeting, Hegseth delivered an ultimatum to Anthropic: be deemed a supply-chain risk or the government would invoke a law that would force Anthropic to change its rules, the person familiar said.
Hegseth has given Anthropic until Friday to back down on safeguards for its products used by the military.
An Anthropic spokesperson said Tuesday’s meeting “continued good-faith conversations about our usage policy to ensure Anthropic can continue to support the government's national security mission in line with what our models can reliably and responsibly do.”
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a comment request.
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