Trump Orders Federal Agencies to Drop Anthropic Ai After Pentagon Brands Company a 'Supply Chain Risk'
President Donald Trump has directed every federal agency to immediately cease using anthropic ai technology, a move that follows a Pentagon decision to designate the company a supply-chain risk. The directive and the defence secretary’s designation come after weeks of failed negotiations over how the US military could use the company’s AI tools.
Anthropic Ai designation by Pete Hegseth
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth instructed the Pentagon to declare Anthropic a "supply-chain risk, " writing that "effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic. " The designation, Hegseth said, would let the military bar vendors from work with the company if they are judged to pose security vulnerabilities such as foreign ownership, control, or influence. Hegseth and other defense officials had pushed for Anthropic to agree that the military could use its models for "any lawful use. "
Trump directs federal agencies to cease use, phases out over six months
Trump announced that Anthropic’s tools will be phased out of all government work over the next six months and said federal agencies must "IMMEDIATELY CEASE" use of the company’s artificial intelligence technology. On his Truth Social feed he wrote that "We don't need it, we don't want it, and will not do business with them again!" and warned the company to be cooperative during the phase-out or face the "Full Power of the Presidency" with "major civil and criminal consequences to follow. " The president also used the term "Department of War" as a secondary name for the defence department.
Dario Amodei and Pentagon talks collapse as deadline lapses
The order followed days of public and private negotiations between Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei and Hegseth. Talks between the company and the Department of Defense broke down as a deadline for an agreement lapsed on Friday afternoon. Anthropic has resisted Pentagon demands that it loosen ethical guardrails, arguing its contracts should not permit use of Claude and other tools for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. Amodei said Anthropic understands that the military makes decisions, and that "in a narrow set of cases, we believe AI can undermine, rather than defend, democratic values. "
Industry reaction and legal push from Anthropic
Anthropic said it had not received direct communication from the White House or the military "on the status of our negotiations" and declared it "will challenge any supply chain risk designation in court, " calling such a step legally unsound and a dangerous precedent. The company warned that "No amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War will change our position on mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. "
Silicon Valley figures and policy experts publicly criticized the move. Dean Ball, a senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation and a former White House AI adviser, called the action "the most shocking, damaging, and overreaching thing I have ever seen the United States government do, " saying it raises questions about the future climate for American tech. Y Combinator founder Paul Graham described the administration's behavior as "impulsive and vindictive, " and OpenAI researcher Boaz Barak warned that sidelining a leading AI company would be a major misstep. Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that OpenAI reached an agreement with the Department of Defense to deploy its models in classified environments with apparent carve-outs and reiterated safety principles prohibiting domestic mass surveillance and preserving human responsibility for use of force.
Legal authority cited and technical details unclear in the provided context
Anthropic pointed to the statutory framework by citing 10 USC 3252 in a blog post and argued there are limits to the Pentagon’s reach; the company’s statement that a supply-chain-risk designation under that authority only applies is incomplete and unclear in the provided context. Anthropic also noted that if the Department of Defense chose to stop using its tools it would "work to enable a smooth transition to another provider. "
Wider political developments linked to the moment
The showdown unfolded amid a broader flurry of political moves and statements. Trump used the moment to criticize the company in broader terms, writing that "WE will decide the fate of our Country – NOT some out-of-control, Radical Left AI company" and making separate remarks about Cuba, saying "They have no money, they have no anything right now. But they’re talking with us and maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba. "
At the same time, US secretary of state Marco Rubio instructed ambassadors in the Middle East to stop making public comments that could inflame tensions and undermine pressure on Iran. Former president Bill Clinton gave a deposition to a congressional committee investigating his links to Jeffrey Epstein, a day after Hillary Clinton testified and called the proceedings "partisan political theatre" and "an insult to the American people. " During House oversight remarks the previous day, Hillary Clinton insisted she had never met Epstein. The context also references that more health systems are ending gender-affirming care and that scientists and advocates warn this will have major repercussions, but that point is incomplete and unclear in the provided context.
What makes this notable is the confluence of legal, military and political pressure: Pentagon insistence on open military use led to Anthropic's refusal to lift safeguards, which in turn prompted a supply-chain designation and a presidential order that will remove the company’s tools from government work within a six-month timeline.
