White House Divides AI Contracts
The U.S. government is fragmenting its AI allegiances, with the White House banning federal use of Anthropic's Claude due to supply chain risks, according to the Pentagon. The move came just hours before a major classified deal was announced with rival OpenAI, signaling a consolidation of government contracts toward favored players.
The fallout stems from a public dispute over the military's use of Anthropic's AI model, Claude. The Pentagon sought unrestricted use for all "lawful purposes," while Anthropic insisted on maintaining safeguards against its technology being used for domestic mass surveillance or in fully autonomous weapons systems. In response to the impasse, President Donald Trump directed all federal agencies to "immediately cease all use" of Anthropic's technology, allowing for a six-month phase-out period. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth subsequently designated Anthropic a "supply chain risk to National Security," a label that could bar defense contractors from working with the AI firm. Anthropic's CEO, Dario Amodei, stated the company could not "in good conscience" agree to the Pentagon's demands. The OpenAI agreement was announced by CEO Sam Altman on X, stating the deal includes deploying their models on the military's classified networks. Altman emphasized that the agreement respects OpenAI's "red lines," which are similar to Anthropic's, prohibiting use for domestic mass surveillance and requiring human responsibility for the use of force. OpenAI's deal with the Pentagon is framed as having more extensive safeguards than what was proposed to Anthropic, including retaining control over its safety systems and deploying via the cloud with cleared OpenAI personnel involved. Altman also stated that he urged the government to offer the same terms to all AI companies to "de-escalate" the situation. The agreement came together quickly, with talks on classified work accelerating in the week leading up to the announcement.
