The U.S. Department of Defense officially classified the technology company Anthropic as a threat to the supply chain, marking the first instance of such a label being applied to an American enterprise. This decision escalates the ongoing dispute between the Donald Trump administration and the creators of the Claude model. The CEO of Anthropic announced plans to take the matter to court, while also apologizing for the leak of an internal memo criticizing the incumbent president.

Pentagon's Unprecedented Label

Anthropic has become the first American technology company officially designated by the Department of Defense as a risk to the supply chain.

Legal Battle on the Horizon

The CEO of Anthropic announced plans to sue the Pentagon, despite simultaneously apologizing for the leak of a memo attacking Donald Trump.

ChatGPT User Rebellion

OpenAI's deepening cooperation with the military has led to a mass deletion of the app by users who value privacy and ethics.

The U.S. Department of Defense has taken an unprecedented step, officially labeling a domestic technology company as a risk to national security. This decision targets Anthropic, a startup backed by Google and Amazon, known for developing AI models focused on ethics and safety. Pentagon representatives informed the company's board that their technology poses a threat to the supply chain. This classification could effectively prevent Anthropic from securing any future government contracts. Tensions between Washington and San Francisco increased following the publication of articles about a confidential memo in which Anthropic's leadership allegedly expressed skepticism towards Donald Trump's policies. The company's CEO, Dario Amodei, in an internal memo expressed concerns about the use of AI for mass surveillance, which became the source of the dispute. Despite tensions, Anthropic decided to resume negotiations with the Pentagon to work out a compromise regarding the ethical use of technology. The situation is paradoxical given that rival OpenAI, led by Sam Altman, is strengthening its cooperation with the military. Altman publicly stated that decisions about the use of artificial intelligence for military purposes should be made by selected officials, not corporations. Relations between the U.S. government and Silicon Valley are based on a historical model of cooperation that gained significance during the Cold War, when microprocessor development was primarily funded by the defense budget.The Pentagon's decision has sparked a lively debate among tech sector employees. Hundreds of engineers from Google and OpenAI signed an open letter appealing for the introduction of strict limitations on the military use of AI. Simultaneously, market data indicates an unexpected consumer reaction – while OpenAI is gaining government contracts, a sharp 295 percent increase in ChatGPT app uninstallations was recorded. Individual users are overwhelmingly choosing Anthropic's Claude model, which Bloomberg describes as an act of support for a company in a dispute with the state administration. „Government should be more powerful than corporations.” — Sam Altman

Mentioned People

  • Dario Amodei — CEO of Anthropic, who announced a legal battle with the Pentagon.
  • Sam Altman — Head of OpenAI, advocating for strong state control over AI technologies.
  • Donald Trump — President of the United States, whose administration imposed restrictions on Anthropic.