President Donald Trump has placed Anthropic on a blacklist due to the company’s refusal to allow its technology to be used for autonomous weaponry and mass surveillance.
Following an order from President Donald Trump to ban the firm across the federal government, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has officially labeled the artificial intelligence company Anthropic a “supply-chain risk to national security.”
In an announcement on Friday, Hegseth accused the firm of attempting to impose ideological restrictions on American military activities. This follows Anthropic’s refusal to scrap protections that prevent its AI systems from being utilized for fully autonomous weapons and mass surveillance.
“Their actual goal is clear: to gain a veto over the United States military’s operational choices,” Hegseth remarked in a social media post. “This is not acceptable… The Department of War requires complete, unhindered access to the models provided by Anthropic for all legal defense purposes of the Republic.”
“I am instructing the Department of War to classify Anthropic as a Supply-Chain Risk to National Security… This is a final decision,” Hegseth declared.
The classification immediately prohibits any partner, supplier, or contractor associated with the US military from doing business with Anthropic, creating a broad impact beyond just the Pentagon. Officials from the defense department noted that the firm will be allowed to provide services for a six-month transition period as military systems move to other providers.
This action follows a broad directive from Trump for federal agencies to cease using Anthropic’s tech after the company ignored Pentagon requests to remove contractual restrictions on the deployment of its primary AI model, Claude.
Anthropic has held firm on two specific conditions: bans on fully autonomous weapons lacking human oversight and on domestic mass surveillance. Pentagon leadership contends that these protections could limit operational agility during military emergencies.
The “supply-chain risk” label—typically applied to firms associated with foreign enemies—represents a significant move against a US-based tech company that is deeply integrated into national security efforts.
Anthropic was the inaugural and sole commercial AI firm to host sophisticated language models on the Pentagon’s classified networks under a deal worth up to $200 million. Its technology has assisted in military planning and intelligence analysis, including the operation targeting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.