The Pentagon is severing ties with a major AI developer after a standoff over military access to artificial intelligence tools, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Friday, designating Anthropic a “Supply-Chain Risk to National Security.”
In a lengthy X post, Hegseth stated in part: “Our position has never wavered and will never waver: the Department of War must have full, unrestricted access to Anthropic’s models for every LAWFUL purpose in defense of the Republic.”
Hegseth said Anthropic and CEO Dario Amodei chose “duplicity,” accusing them of trying to “strong-arm the United States military into submission – a cowardly act of corporate virtue-signaling that places Silicon Valley ideology above American lives.”
“Their true objective is unmistakable: to seize veto power over the operational decisions of the United States military,” the secretary said. “That is unacceptable.”
The War Secretary added that “Anthropic’s stance is fundamentally incompatible with American principles,” and announced that, as a result of the company’s refusal to accede to the Pentagon’s demands, it would be designated a “supply-chain risk.”
“Effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic,” Hegseth stated, adding that the Pentagon and Anthropic will untangle their relationship over the next six months while the federal government transitions to a new AI partner.
Hegseth’s announcement follows President Donald Trump’s statement earlier Friday, in which the president ordered “EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology.”
Trump called Anthropic a “radical Left, woke company” whose “selfishness is putting AMERICAN LIVES at risk, our Troops in danger, and our National Security in JEOPARDY.”
In January, the Department of War released a document outlining its strategies for AI dominance, which included the following statement: “The Department must also utilize models free from usage policy constraints that may limit lawful military applications.”
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei released a statement of his own on Thursday as the negotiations were ongoing, stating that while he believes in utilizing artificial intelligence to defend the United States and push back against autocracies, in certain cases, AI could be used in opposition to such goals.
Those cases, according to Amodei, are “mass domestic surveillance” and “fully autonomous weapons.”
“AI-driven mass surveillance presents serious, novel risks to our fundamental liberties. … For example, under current law, the government can purchase detailed records of Americans’ movements, web browsing, and associations from public sources without obtaining a warrant, a practice the Intelligence Community has acknowledged raises privacy concerns and that has generated bipartisan opposition in Congress. Powerful AI makes it possible to assemble this scattered, individually innocuous data into a comprehensive picture of any person’s life—automatically and at massive scale,” Amodei said.
As to fully autonomous weapons, the CEO acknowledged that such weapons may one day “prove critical,” but with current AI technology, “systems are simply not reliable enough to power fully autonomous weapons.”
The clash marks a dramatic rupture between the U.S. military and one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent AI firms, escalating a broader battle over who controls the future use of artificial intelligence in national defense.
The post <a href=https://www.dailywire.com/news/pentagon-moves-to-blacklist-ai-company-in-escalating-national-security-clash target=_blank >Pentagon Moves To Blacklist AI Company In Escalating National Security Clash</a> appeared first on Conservative Angle | Conservative Angle - Conservative News Clearing House
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