Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Thursday said the company “cannot in good conscience” agree to allow the Department of Defense to use its models in all lawful use cases without limitation, adding that the agency’s threats do not change its position.
The artificial intelligence startup has been engaged in tense negotiations with the Pentagon in recent weeks, and it said Thursday that those discussions are still ongoing. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has threatened to label Anthropic a “supply chain risk” or to invoke the Defense Production Act to force the company to comply with its demands.
Anthropic wants assurance that its models will not be used for fully autonomous weapons or mass domestic surveillance of Americans, while the DoD wants to be able to use the models without those restrictions.
“It is the Department’s prerogative to select contractors most aligned with their vision,” Amodei wrote in a statement. “But given the substantial value that Anthropic’s technology provides to our armed forces, we hope they reconsider.”
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said Thursday that the DoD has “no interest” in using Anthropic’s models for fully autonomous weapons or to conduct mass surveillance of Americans, which he noted is illegal. He emphasized that the agency wants the company to agree to allow its models to be used for “all lawful purposes.”
