Altman: Pentagon Deal Looked 'Sloppy'

The dispute with Anthropic centered on the company's refusal to remove safeguards against the use of its AI for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. The Pentagon demanded "any lawful use" of Anthropic's technology, a position the company could not accept, leading to an impasse. On Friday, February 27, 2026, President Donald Trump ordered all federal agencies to "IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic's technology," giving them a six-month phase-out period. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth then designated Anthropic a "supply chain risk," a label historically applied to foreign adversaries, and barred any Pentagon contractor from doing business with the company. Hours after the ban, OpenAI announced its own deal with the Pentagon to provide AI models for classified networks. The contract is worth up to $200 million and is aimed at addressing "critical national security challenges." This marked a significant policy shift for OpenAI, which previously had a ban on military-related work. Sam Altman stated the OpenAI agreement was "rushed" in an effort to "de-escalate the situation" between the tech industry and the Department of Defense. He maintained that OpenAI's contract includes prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and requires human responsibility for the use of force, the very same principles at the heart of the dispute with Anthropic. In response to the Pentagon's actions against Anthropic, a coalition of labor groups representing over 700,000 tech workers from companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft urged their employers to refuse similar demands. Additionally, more than 430 employees from Google and OpenAI signed an open letter in solidarity with Anthropic, opposing the use of AI for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons.