Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has told Anthropic it has until Friday evening to give the military broad access to its artificial intelligence models, CNBC confirmed on Tuesday.
If Anthropic fails to comply, Hegseth threatened to label the company a “supply chain risk” or invoke the Defense Production Act, according to sources familiar with the discussion, who asked not to be named because the matter was private.
Anthropic’s negotiations with the Department of Defense have stalled because it wants assurance that its models will not be used for autonomous weapons or mass surveillance of Americans. The DoD, meanwhile, wants the company to agree to “all lawful use cases” without limitation.
A “supply chain risk” is a designation that’s typically reserved for foreign adversaries, but it would require the DoD’s vendors and contractors to certify that they do not use Anthropic’s models. The Defense Production Act allows the president to control domestic industries under emergency authority when it’s in the interest of national security.
Hegseth set the deadline during a meeting with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Tuesday morning, the people said.
