World News: Trump orders US agencies to stop using Anthropic AI tools

President Donald Trump said Friday he would direct every federal agency to immediately stop using technology from AI developer Anthropic, a move that set in motion a six-month phase-out and a Pentagon escalation that could bar private contractors from working with the company.

World News: White House orders halt on Anthropic

Trump posted on Truth Social that "We don't need it, we don't want it, and will not do business with them again!" and announced that Anthropic's tools will be phased out of all government work over the next six months. He also warned on his platform that Anthropic must "better get their act together, and be helpful during this phase out period, or I will use the Full Power of the Presidency to make them comply, with major civil and criminal consequences to follow. " The president has sometimes referred to the defence department as the "Department of War, " a secondary name used in his posts.

Pentagon labels Anthropic a "supply chain risk"

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he would designate Anthropic a supply-chain risk, writing on social media that the move was "effective immediately" and would bar any contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military from conducting "any commercial activity with Anthropic. " Hegseth called Anthropic's stance "fundamentally incompatible with American principles" and noted the type of designation is normally used for foreign adversaries; the Pentagon held a $200m, two-year agreement with Anthropic and would continue to use the company's AI services for a transition period of no more than six months.

Anthropic rejects Pentagon demands and announces legal challenge

it had grown concerned about the government potentially using its AI tools, like Claude, in what it described as "mass surveillance" and "fully autonomous weapons, " and that it would not drop safeguards. Anthropic said late Friday it had not received direct communications from the White House or the military "on the status of our negotiations" and that being designated a supply chain risk "would both be legally unsound and set a dangerous precedent for any American company that negotiates with the government. " The company added, "No amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War will change our position on mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons, " and said it "will challenge any supply chain risk designation in court. " The escalation followed days of public and private back-and-forth between Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Hegseth.

OpenAI strikes a Pentagon deal as Anthropic is excluded

Hours after Anthropic was excluded, OpenAI announced a fresh Pentagon deal to supply AI to classified military networks. OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman said the new agreement enshrines the same safety guardrails at the center of the dispute: "Two of our most important safety principles are prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems, " and he said the Pentagon "agrees with these principles, reflects them in law and policy, and we put them into our agreement. " Altman said he hopes the Pentagon will "offer these same terms to all AI companies. " Meanwhile, the government services administration followed the Pentagon's lead and said Friday evening that it had terminated its contracts with Anthropic.

What happens next

Anthropic was in use by the US government and military since 2024 and was the first advanced AI company to have its tools deployed in government agencies doing classified work. The company had previously said that if the Department of Defense chose to stop using its tools it would "work to enable a smooth transition to another provider. " With the Pentagon and the government services administration moving to end commercial ties and Anthropic planning a court challenge, the immediate confirmed milestones are a government phase-out of Anthropic tools over the next six months and a Pentagon transition window of no more than six months while contracts are reworked or replaced.