Trump orders agencies to stop using Anthropic technology after it rejects Pentagon demands to drop AI safeguards

Artificial intelligence (AI) firm Anthropic said Feb. 26 it would not comply with the Pentagon’s ultimatum to remove ethics and safety restrictions on its AI models for military use or be removed from the Department of War’s systems. One day later, President Donald Trump said he was ordering every federal agency to stop using Anthropic’s technology immediately.

Anthropic says the disagreement stems from its refusal to lift safeguards that block AI systems from being used for the mass surveillance of Americans or for fully autonomous weapons capable of killing without human oversight, as Zeale News previously reported.

Earlier in the day, however, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell contended on X that the department has no interest in using AI to conduct mass surveillance or to deploy autonomous weapons systems operating without human involvement. “This narrative is fake and being peddled by leftists in the media,” he said.

“Here's what we're asking: Allow the Pentagon to use Anthropic's model for all lawful purposes,” Parnell said, adding that the company had until 5:01 pm ET Feb. 27 to decide. “Otherwise, we will terminate our partnership with Anthropic and deem them a supply chain risk.”

Undersecretary of War Emil Michael echoed Parnell’s stance in another X post, arguing that mass domestic surveillance is already unlawful and thus the department would never engage in it.

Anthropic’s statement 

In a statement issued hours later, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said the company “cannot in good conscience accede” to the department’s request. 

Anthropic said that while it recognizes that the departmentr — not private companies — makes military decisions, there are “a narrow set of cases” in which AI “can undermine rather than defend democratic values.” The company specifically cited its concerns about mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons.

Anthropic does not oppose AI use in foreign intelligence or counterintelligence missions but warned that deploying such systems for domestic surveillance “is incompatible with democratic values.” 

Under current law, the government can purchase “detailed records of Americans’ movements, web browsing, and associations from public sources without obtaining a warrant,” Anthropic argued. AI tools can compile that otherwise scattered data into a comprehensive profile of any person’s life, creating “serious, novel risks to our fundamental liberties.” 

Amodei had previously warned that such capabilities could undermine Fourth Amendment protections and other civil liberties and suggested that the U.S. must update its legal framework to explicitly address AI-driven surveillance.

On the issue of autonomous weapons, Anthropic said it “will not knowingly provide a product” to the military “that puts America’s warfighters and civilians at risk.” The company added that these weapons “cannot be relied upon to exercise the critical judgment that our highly trained, professional troops exhibit every day.” 

Amodei said he hoped the Pentagon would reconsider but the company “will work to enable a smooth transition to another provider” if the department decided to cancel its contract with Anthropic, which was awarded in July 2025. 

Amodei also said that the department had threatened to invoke the Defense Production Act to force the removal of the safeguards. The act gives the president the authority to require that private companies prioritize contracts deemed necessary for national defense and was used after the outbreak of COVID-19 to increase vaccine and ventilator production. 

“Regardless,” Amodei said, “these threats do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience accede to their request.”

Trump administration lashes out at Anthropic 

Pentagon officials vehemently rejected Amodei’s arguments, claiming they were misleading. In a post issued in response to Anthropic’s decision, Michael said that the Pentagon would “ALWAYS adhere to the law” but would “not bend to whims of any one for-profit tech company.”

“It’s a shame that [Amodei] is a liar and has a God-complex,” the undersecretary of war added. “He wants nothing more than to try to personally control the US Military and is ok putting our nation’s safety at risk.”

Michael also claimed in a separate post that Anthropic had an old company constitution that “they desperately tried to delete from the internet.” According to Michael, the constitution stated, “‘Choose the response that is least likely to be viewed as harmful or offensive to a non-western cultural tradition of any sort.’” 

In a lengthy Truth Social post on Feb. 27, Trump said that the “Leftwing nut jobs at Anthropic have made a DISASTROUS MISTAKE” that puts “AMERICAN LIVES at risk, our Troops in danger, and our National Security in JEOPARDY.” 

“THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL NEVER ALLOW A RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY TO DICTATE HOW OUR GREAT MILITARY FIGHTS AND WINS WARS! That decision belongs to YOUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF,” he said, “and the tremendous leaders I appoint to run our Military.”

He added that he is ordering every federal agency to “immediately stop using the firm’s technology, though there will be a six-month phase-out period for some agencies, including the Department of War. 

“Anthropic better get their act together, and be helpful during this phase out period, or I will use the Full Power of the Presidency to make them comply, with major civil and criminal consequences to follow,” he wrote.

Shortly after Trump’s announcement, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued an X post claiming that Anthropic “delivered a master class in arrogance and betrayal as well as a textbook case of how not to do business with the United States Government or the Pentagon.” 

“In conjunction with the President's directive for the Federal Government to cease all use of Anthropic's technology, I am directing the Department of War to designate Anthropic a Supply-Chain Risk to National Security,” he added. “Effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic.”

Silicon Valley reacts to the dispute

Elon Musk — CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and former head of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency — criticized Anthropic, saying in one post that the company “hates Western Civilization.” Musk also founded xAI, the AI company behind the platform Grok. 

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, on the other hand, defended Anthropic and questioned the Pentagon’s move. According to AP News, Amodei previously worked for OpenAI before he quit to form Anthropic in 2021. 

In a Feb. 27 CNBC interview, Altman said, “For all the differences I have with Anthropic, I mostly trust them as a company, and I think they really do care about safety.”