World News: Trump orders federal agencies to stop using Anthropic AI
President Donald Trump said on Friday he will direct every federal agency to immediately stop using technology from AI developer Anthropic, ordering a phase-out he said will take place over the next six months and touching off a public fight that has moved to the center of world news.
Trump’s directive and his social media posts
Trump wrote on Truth Social: "We don't need it, we don't want it, and will not do business with them again!" He later berated Anthropic on the same platform, saying the company "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. "
Pentagon labels Anthropic a supply-chain risk
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said he will deem Anthropic a "supply chain risk, " a designation he announced on X and said would occur "immediately, " prohibiting any contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military from conducting commercial activity with Anthropic. Hegseth said Anthropic’s "stance is fundamentally incompatible with American principles, " and characterized the move as a national-security step normally used for foreign adversaries.
Standoff over access and ethical limits
The dispute arose after Anthropic refused Pentagon demands that it agree to give the US military unfettered access to its AI tools; the Pentagon had demanded the company accept "any lawful use" of its systems and sought looser ethical constraints. That impasse persisted as a deadline for an agreement lapsed on Friday afternoon, following days of public and private back-and-forth between Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Pete Hegseth.
Anthropic’s response and legal pushback
Anthropic said it had yet to hear anything directly from the White House or the military "on the status of our negotiations" and warned that a supply-chain risk designation "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. " The phrase "Department of War" is a secondary name Trump has given to the defence department. Anthropic said it "will challenge any supply chain risk designation in court. "
Transition plans, contracts and wider market fallout
Trump said Anthropic's tools will be phased out of all government work over the next six months. Hegseth noted the Pentagon had a $200m, two-year agreement with Anthropic and said the department will continue to use Anthropic’s AI services for a transition period of no more than six months. The government services administration followed Hegseth's lead and said Friday evening that it had terminated its contracts with Anthropic. Anthropic had earlier said that if the Department of Defense chose to stop using its tools it would "work to enable a smooth transition to another provider, " and it warned that the only customers likely affected otherwise would be companies that also contract with the military and therefore may have to stop using Anthropic for work done on behalf of the department.
OpenAI deal and the safety guardrails debate
Hours after Anthropic’s exclusion, OpenAI said it had struck a deal with the Pentagon to supply AI to classified military networks. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the same safety principles that were at issue with Anthropic — including prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including autonomous weapon systems — are enshrined in the new Pentagon partnership, and he said he hoped the Pentagon would offer those terms to all AI companies to move toward negotiated agreements.
The immediate result is that Anthropic, which has been in government and military use since 2024 and was the first advanced AI company to have its tools deployed in government agencies doing classified work, faces a mandated retreat from federal systems while the Pentagon implements a transition. It remains unclear in the provided context whether further legal action, new negotiations, or replacement contracts will change that timetable.
Officials have set the coming months as the transition window: the Pentagon will continue limited use for up to six months while agencies phase Anthropic tools out and other vendors pursue possible replacement contracts.
