AI For Lethal Weapons To Surveillance: Donald Trump Vs Anthropic Explained

Last Updated:February 28, 2026, 14:30 IST

Donald Trump Vs Anthropic: The conflict centres on a fundamental disagreement between the administration's national security demands and the AI startup's safety principles.

US President Donald Trump on Friday escalated a high-stakes feud by ordering all federal agencies to immediately cease using Anthropic’s AI technology.

The conflict centres on a fundamental disagreement between the administration’s national security demands and the AI startup’s safety principles.

The core conflict

The standoff reached a breaking point when Anthropic refused to grant the Pentagon unrestricted access to its models, including its Claude AI system. Anthropic insisted on two primary “red lines":

No Fully Autonomous Weapons: Prohibiting the use of its AI to operate lethal weapons without human involvement.

No Mass Domestic Surveillance: Preventing the technology from being used for large-scale monitoring of American citizens.

The U.S. Department of Defense argued that private companies should not dictate military operations and demanded access for “all lawful purposes".

How did the administration retaliate?

Trump directed a government-wide halt on Anthropic tools, with a six-month phase-out period for agencies already utilising them.

Following the order, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk to national security. This rare label—historically reserved for foreign adversaries like Huawei—effectively bars any company doing business with the Pentagon from also using Anthropic’s commercial products.

Trump criticised the company as “unpatriotic" and “radical left," warning of “major civil and criminal consequences" if they do not comply with the phase-out.

What has Anthropic said

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei stated the company “cannot in good conscience accede" to demands that would allow its technology to be used in ways that undermine democratic values. The company has vowed to challenge the supply chain risk designation in court, calling it “legally unsound" and a dangerous precedent for American tech firms.

What next?

While Anthropic faces a federal shutdown, its rival OpenAI recently inked a deal with the Pentagon to deploy models in classified defense settings.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed support for Anthropic’s safety concerns but noted that OpenAI had successfully negotiated technical safeguards with the government. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s xAI has also reportedly moved to fill the vacuum left by Anthropic.

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