Anthropic says that the Pentagon has declared it a national security risk

Anthropic says that the Pentagon has declared it a national security risk After months of negotiations, the Defense Department cut off business with the leading AI company. Anthropic said it sees “no choice but to challenge it in court." Dario Amodei, co-founder and CEO of Anthropic. Krisztian Bocsi / Bloomberg via Getty Images file Share Add NBC News to Google March 5, 2026, 10:07 PM EST By Jared Perlo Listen to this article with a free account 00:00 00:00 Anthropic said Thursday that it has been designated a threat to national security by the Defense Department, a striking move that bans the company from doing business with the U.S. military and could send shockwaves through America’s AI industry. The designation, which the company said it received on Wednesday and specifically labels Anthropic a “supply-chain risk to national security,” requires the Pentagon and its contractors to stop using Anthropic’s AI services for all defense business. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth first telegraphed the move Friday evening in a post on X . The move comes after months of increasingly tense negotiations over how the military should be able to use Anthropic’s Claude AI systems. Though a relatively new technology, generative AI models like Claude have quickly been embraced by the Trump administration, including for military use. For the past several months, the Pentagon has been negotiating new contract terms with Anthropic, along with other leading American AI companies , to allow for more expansive military use of AI. While the Pentagon has sought to harness powerful AI systems for “any lawful use,” Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei had wanted stronger guarantees the Pentagon would not use its AI technology for deadly autonomous weapons or mass domestic surveillance. Amodei confirmed the supply-chain risk label in a statement Thursday night and said the company did not agree with it, writing “we do not believe this action is legally sound, and we see no choice but to challenge it in...