Anthropic Stock in the spotlight as Trump orders federal ban and OpenAI seals Pentagon deal
President Donald Trump on Friday directed every federal agency to immediately cease using Anthropic’s technology, a move that has put anthropic stock into the center of a sudden government showdown with AI companies. The ban and a parallel Defense Department escalation came after months of increasingly heated rhetoric over military use of Anthropic’s systems.
Anthropic Stock reaction and the ban
Trump wrote on Truth Social: “I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again!” Shortly afterward, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on X that he would direct the Defense Department to label Anthropic a “Supply-Chain Risk to National Security. ” The designation, the government said, is usually reserved for foreign adversaries and would bar any military contractor or supplier from doing business with Anthropic. Both Hegseth and Trump set a six‑month window for agencies to phase out any existing federal business with the company.
OpenAI strikes deal with the Defense Department
Hours after the administration’s comments, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted on X Friday night that OpenAI had struck a deal with the Department of Defense to deploy its models on the department’s classified networks. Altman wrote that the Department of Defense “displayed a deep respect for safety and a desire to partner to achieve the best possible outcome” in their interactions and said OpenAI will create “safeguards to ensure our models behave as they should, which the DoW [Department of War] also wanted. ”
Altman added: “AI safety and wide distribution of benefits are the core of our mission, ” and said, “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. The DoW [Department of War] agrees with these principles, reflects them in law and policy, and we put them into our agreement. ” It is unclear if or how the safety‑focused measures in OpenAI’s agreement differ from those in the Anthropic negotiations.
Anthropic’s response and legal warning
Following the directives from Trump and Hegseth, Anthropic posted on its website that the company had “not yet received direct communication” from either the Pentagon or Trump and threatened legal action. “We will challenge any supply chain risk designation in court, ” the statement said, adding: “We believe this designation would both be legally unsound and set a dangerous precedent for any American company that negotiates with the government. ”
Negotiations, red lines and Pentagon stance
Anthropic, led by CEO Dario Amodei, has told Pentagon negotiators over months of contract discussions that it would not allow its AI systems to be harnessed for mass domestic surveillance or direct use in lethal autonomous weapons. The Pentagon has maintained that it must be allowed to employ its AI systems for “any lawful use, ” a position that Anthropic says may cross its red lines.
Amodei wrote Thursday night: “I believe deeply in the existential importance of using AI to defend the United States and other democracies, ” but added that “using these systems for mass domestic surveillance is incompatible with democratic values. ” He also wrote: “today, frontier AI systems are simply not reliable enough to power fully autonomous weapons. ”
Industry reaction and wider context
Hegseth’s post prompted significant criticism from the AI industry. The unfolding dispute appeared alongside broader, separate developments in the news feed labeled: DEVELOPING: Trump urges Iranians: 'Take over your government' | Iran retaliates, hits multiple U. S. bases.
Agencies now face a concrete compliance timeline: both the president and the defense secretary said federal entities would have six months to phase out any existing federal business with Anthropic. That six‑month clock is the next confirmed milestone in the immediate dispute between the White House, the Defense Department and Anthropic.
