DoD Designates Anthropic a Risk
The U.S. Department of Defense has officially declared AI firm Anthropic a supply chain risk, the first time a domestic company has received such a designation. The move, stemming from disputes over AI's military use, gives the company a six-month grace period before being cut off from military contracts. It's a major signal for developers using third-party AI services in regulated industries.
The core of the dispute lies in Anthropic's refusal to remove safeguards that prohibit the use of its AI model, Claude, for mass surveillance of Americans and for powering fully autonomous weapons. The Pentagon has insisted on the ability to use the technology for "all lawful purposes," a stance Anthropic could not agree to. This designation is unprecedented, marking the first time a U.S.-based AI firm has been labeled a supply chain risk, a designation typically reserved for foreign adversaries like Huawei. Anthropic's CEO, Dario Amodei, has stated the company believes the action is not "legally sound" and intends to challenge the designation in court. Despite the risk designation, Anthropic's Claude AI was reportedly the only AI model deployed on the Pentagon's classified networks and was used in recent U.S. strikes on Iran. The Department of Defense has up to six months to phase out the technology. Shortly after the directive against Anthropic, rival AI company OpenAI announced it had secured a deal with the military to deploy its models on classified networks. OpenAI stated their agreement includes "more guardrails than any previous agreement for classified AI deployments." The move has drawn criticism from tech industry leaders and former military officials, who called it an "inappropriate use of executive authority." An open letter signed by figures from OpenAI, Slack, IBM, and others argued that punishing a company for a contract dispute sets a dangerous precedent. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the designation, stating, "no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic." However, Anthropic maintains the designation has a "narrow scope," only impacting direct DoD contracts.
