Anthropic vs. Pentagon: Trump Orders Federal Agencies to Phase Out Claude AI After Dario Amodei Refuses Military Ultimatum

This is the biggest story in artificial intelligence today — and it is still breaking. President Trump ordered all federal agencies to immediately phase out Anthropic technology Friday, February 27, 2026 ET, after CEO Dario Amodei publicly refused the Pentagon's ultimatum to remove AI safeguards on Claude. The standoff between the maker of Claude AI and Pete Hegseth's Defense Department has exploded into one of the most consequential corporate-government confrontations in American tech history.

What Is Anthropic? The Company Behind Claude AI

Anthropic is an American AI safety company and public benefit corporation founded in 2021 by Dario Amodei, his sister Daniela Amodei, and other former OpenAI researchers. The company builds and operates Claude — a family of large language models accessible via Claude.ai, the Claude API, and Claude Code. As of February 2026, Anthropic has an estimated valuation of $380 billion, with 2,500 employees and Forbes estimating CEO Dario Amodei's net worth at $7 billion.

Anthropic completed a $30 billion Series G funding round in February 2026 with investors including MGX, GIC, DE Shaw Ventures, Dragoneer, Founders Fund, and ICONIQ. Unlike OpenAI or Google DeepMind, Anthropic was founded with AI safety as its core institutional mission — a position now at the center of the most dramatic standoff in the company's short history.

Dario Amodei Says He "Cannot in Good Conscience" Accept Pentagon Demands

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said Thursday that the company "cannot in good conscience accede" to the Pentagon's demands to allow unrestricted use of its technology, deepening a public clash with the Trump administration that is threatening to pull its contract and take other drastic steps by Friday.

Amodei said the Department of Defense has "threatened to remove us from their systems if we maintain these safeguards; they have also threatened to designate us a 'supply chain risk' — a label reserved for US adversaries, never before applied to an American company — and to invoke the Defense Production Act to force the safeguards' removal." He noted pointedly: "These latter two threats are inherently contradictory: one labels us a security risk; the other labels Claude as essential to national security."

Pete Hegseth Gave Anthropic a Friday Deadline — They Refused

The confrontation escalated sharply this week. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pledged to cut ties with Anthropic unless the company removed all safeguards from Claude by Friday, following a January memo in which Hegseth directed the department to only utilize AI models free from usage policy constraints that may limit lawful military applications.

Anthropic signed a $200 million contract with the DOD in July 2025 and was the first lab to integrate its models into mission workflows on classified networks. Its rivals OpenAI, Google, and Elon Musk's xAI were also granted contract awards of up to $200 million but agreed to let the Pentagon use their models for all lawful purposes. Anthropic alone held the line — making it the last of the major AI labs to resist Pentagon pressure.

Trump Orders Federal Agencies to Phase Out Anthropic Technology

The White House escalated to the highest level Friday morning. President Donald Trump said Friday he was ordering all federal agencies to phase out the use of Anthropic technology. Trump said most agencies must immediately cease using Anthropic technology, but gave the Pentagon a six-month period to phase out the technology already embedded in military systems.

Trump called Anthropic a "radical left" and "woke" company in a social media post Friday morning ET. Pentagon officials went further in their personal attacks. Emil Michael, defense undersecretary for research and engineering, lashed out at Amodei on X, alleging he "has a God-complex" and "wants nothing more than to try to personally control the US Military."

The AI Industry Rallies Behind Anthropic and Dario Amodei

Despite the White House pressure, the broader AI industry has sided with Anthropic in a significant show of solidarity. More than 100 workers at Google sent a letter to chief scientist Jeff Dean asking for similar limits on how Gemini AI models are used by the U.S. military. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told employees in a memo that OpenAI would push for the same limitations on autonomous weapons and mass surveillance as it negotiates to extend ChatGPT's military use to more classified domains.

The Future of Life Institute praised Anthropic, saying: "Fully autonomous weapons systems and Orwellian AI-enabled domestic mass surveillance are affronts to our dignity and liberty. We highly commend Anthropic for standing up for the principle that AI should never be used to kill people without meaningful human control."

What Anthropic's Two Red Lines Actually Are — And What Comes Next

Anthropic's position rests on two specific and firm restrictions: Claude may not be used for fully autonomous weapons systems that kill without human oversight, and Claude may not be used for mass domestic surveillance of American citizens. Amodei said that "frontier AI systems are simply not reliable enough to power fully autonomous weapons" and that "mass domestic surveillance is incompatible with democratic values."

Experts warn the outcome extends far beyond Anthropic. One researcher stated: "If the Pentagon comes out on top of this, it will establish precedents that will not be good for the independence of these companies, or their ability to hold to ethical standards." Trump stopped short of formally designating Anthropic a supply chain risk Friday, but warned the company could face "major civil and criminal consequences" if it is not helpful during the phase-out period. The deadline passed Friday evening ET — and the full consequences are still unfolding.