Anthropic “made a mistake” in its dealings with the Department of Defense, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr told CNBC on Tuesday after the U.S. government blacklisted the AI firm.
Anthropic had been in tense negotiations over the terms of its contract with the Pentagon. The startup asked for assurance that its technology would not be used for fully autonomous weapons or domestic mass surveillance of Americans. The DoD wanted Anthropic to agree to let the military use the models across all lawful use cases.
Talks stalled last week and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said the company “cannot in good conscience” allow the use of its models under these conditions.
“I think it [Anthropic] probably made a mistake,” the FCC’s Carr told CNBC. “There’s obviously rules of the road that are in place that are going to apply to every technology that the Department of War contracts with.”
President Donald Trump then ordered every U.S. government agency to “immediately cease” using Anthropic’s technology. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth escalated the pressure on Anthropic by labeling it a “Supply-Chain Risk to National Security.” The designation means any contractor that works with the Pentagon may not do business with Anthropic.
