Tags: Pentagon

The White House is preparing an executive order that would prohibit the use of Anthropic's AI tools across federal agencies. The move follows Anthropic's legal challenge to a Trump administration designation that labeled the company a supply‑chain risk. During a court hearing, the Justice Department declined to promise that no further penalties would be imposed, and a judge set a preliminary hearing date for late March. The dispute stems from Anthropic's refusal to allow its technology to be used by the Pentagon for any lawful purpose, raising concerns about surveillance and autonomous weaponry. The case highlights tensions between the government’s national‑security claims and the tech industry's ethical standards. Lire la suite

Google is rolling out its Gemini AI agents to the U.S. Department of Defense, initially on unclassified networks. The agents will automate tasks such as summarizing meetings, building budgets, and checking actions against the national defense strategy. Defense personnel can also create custom agents using natural language. The rollout follows a rapid expansion of Pentagon AI partnerships and comes despite earlier internal resistance to military AI projects. Google’s AI chatbot on the GenAI.mil portal has already seen widespread adoption among Defense employees. Lire la suite

OpenAI's head of robotics, Caitlin Kalinowski, stepped down after the company signed a defense agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense. Kalinowski said the rapid deal raised serious governance issues, particularly the potential for domestic surveillance without judicial oversight and the use of AI in lethal autonomous systems. While OpenAI CEO Sam Altman assured that safeguards would be added, the resignation highlights growing tension between cutting‑edge AI firms and national‑security priorities. Lire la suite

Anthropic has filed a lawsuit in a California district court alleging that the U.S. government illegally labeled the AI firm as a supply‑chain risk and ordered all federal agencies to stop using its technology. The company claims the designation, issued by the Trump administration, violates its First and Fifth Amendment rights and exceeds executive authority. The suit follows a series of agency cutoffs, including the General Services Administration terminating its contract, and a broader controversy over the Pentagon’s use of Anthropic’s AI models. Anthropic says it will challenge the designation in court while its major partners continue limited collaborations. Lire la suite

More than 30 engineers and researchers from OpenAI and Google, including DeepMind chief scientist Jeff Dean, submitted an amicus brief backing Anthropic in its legal challenge to the Pentagon's supply‑chain risk designation. The brief argues that the blacklist threatens U.S. competitiveness in artificial intelligence and chills debate on AI safety. Anthropic seeks a temporary restraining order to keep working with military partners while the lawsuit proceeds. The filing highlights the industry's concern over unpredictable government actions and underscores the importance of contractual safeguards on AI use. Lire la suite

A recent clash between the Pentagon and Anthropic over the use of the Claude AI model has sparked intense scrutiny of government AI contracts. The Trump administration labeled Anthropic a supply‑chain risk, prompting the company to prepare a legal challenge. Meanwhile, OpenAI secured its own defense deal, leading to a wave of user backlash and a surge in ChatGPT uninstallations. Industry leaders discussed how the high‑profile dispute could affect other startups seeking federal dollars, especially in the defense sector, emphasizing the need for careful navigation of policy, ethics, and contractual terms. Lire la suite

Caitlin Kalinowski, who led OpenAI's hardware team, announced her resignation in protest of the company's agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense. She said the deal was rushed and lacked the safeguards needed to prevent domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons, emphasizing that her decision was a matter of principle. OpenAI responded by stressing that the agreement includes clear red lines against domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons and that it will continue dialogue with stakeholders. The resignation highlights ongoing tensions over AI use in national security. Lire la suite

Claude’s mobile app is seeing a surge in downloads and daily active users, overtaking ChatGPT in U.S. installs after Anthropic’s refusal to let the Pentagon use its AI for surveillance or autonomous weapons. App intelligence data shows Claude’s daily downloads at 149,000, with 11.3 million daily active users, a 183% increase from the start of the year. Web traffic rose 43% month‑over‑month and 297.7% year‑over‑year, while ChatGPT’s traffic slipped. The app now holds the No. 1 spot in the U.S. App Store and ranks first in 15 other countries. Lire la suite

OpenAI has entered a new contract with the U.S. Department of Defense that critics say leaves room for the technology to be used in mass domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons. The agreement follows Anthropic’s loss of a $200 million Pentagon contract after refusing such uses. While OpenAI removed a 2023 ban on military applications and signed a deal with Anduril for national‑security purposes, experts warn that current regulations lag behind AI advances, risking privacy violations for everyday citizens. Lire la suite

The U.S. Department of War has, for the first time, labeled San Francisco‑based AI firm Anthropic and its Claude models a supply‑chain risk, forcing defense contractors to certify they do not use the technology. Anthropic objected, citing concerns over mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons, and announced plans to challenge the designation in court. The move comes amid reports that the military continues to employ Claude through third‑party systems, sparking industry backlash, a contrasting OpenAI deal with the Pentagon, and debate over the precedent set for domestic tech firms. Lire la suite

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei announced that the company will contest a Defense Department designation labeling its AI products a supply‑chain risk. The move follows a Pentagon notice that the designation is effective immediately. Amodei expressed belief that the action is not legally sound and said the firm has no choice but to pursue legal action. While the restriction applies to defense use, Anthropic’s Claude chatbot remains available to the public and commercial partners such as Microsoft. The company continues discussions with the department to explore permissible ways to serve the Pentagon without violating its exceptions on mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. Lire la suite

The U.S. Department of Defense has officially labeled Anthropic, the creator of the Claude AI model, as a supply‑chain risk after negotiations over the company's use restrictions collapsed. The designation bars defense contractors from using Claude in any government work and threatens to cancel contracts for firms that engage with Anthropic commercially. Anthropic’s CEO said the department’s action is legally unsound and the company will contest it in court. The dispute centers on Anthropic’s refusal to allow the Pentagon to employ Claude for autonomous lethal weapons without human oversight and for mass surveillance, raising questions about private control of government‑grade AI. Lire la suite

Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei sent an internal memo denouncing OpenAI's statements about its new Pentagon agreement as "straight up lies" and "mendacious." The memo follows Anthropic's withdrawal from a separate U.S. intelligence contract over concerns about AI use in mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. Amodei criticizes OpenAI for focusing on employee appeasement rather than genuine safety safeguards and questions the vague "all lawful use" language in the Pentagon deal. OpenAI’s Sam Altman later admitted the announcement was rushed, while reports suggest Anthropic may be re‑entering talks with the Pentagon. Lire la suite

Anthropic's $200 million Department of Defense contract fell apart over a clause allowing unrestricted military use of its AI. After the Pentagon turned to OpenAI, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei resumed talks with Pentagon official Emil Michael to seek a compromise that would limit uses such as domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons. Both sides have exchanged sharp criticism, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has threatened to label Anthropic a supply‑chain risk, a move that could bar the company from future military‑related work. Lire la suite

Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei is back at the negotiating table with the U.S. Department of Defense after talks collapsed over the Pentagon’s demand for unrestricted access to the company’s Claude AI models. The renewed discussions aim to prevent a supply‑chain‑risk designation that could bar Anthropic from future defense work. The dispute centers on the department’s push for open‑use language and Anthropic’s refusal to compromise on two red lines: prohibiting mass surveillance of Americans and banning lethal autonomous weapons without human oversight. Lire la suite

Nearly a thousand engineers from Google and OpenAI have signed an open letter urging their companies to reject Pentagon pressure to expand the military use of artificial intelligence. The letter, framed as a show of solidarity, calls for clear ethical boundaries on AI applications in surveillance and autonomous weapons. It references past internal protests at Google over Project Maven and highlights Anthropic’s recent designation as a supply‑chain risk after refusing to enable mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. The workers hope their collective voice will influence corporate policy on defense contracts. Lire la suite

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman fielded public questions on X after the company accepted a Pentagon contract that Anthropic had declined. Users and employees raised concerns about the firm’s involvement in surveillance and autonomous weaponry, while Altman emphasized deference to democratic institutions. The episode highlighted OpenAI’s shift from a consumer startup to a component of national‑security infrastructure and exposed its limited preparedness for the accompanying political and operational pressures. Simultaneously, the Department of Defense’s threat to label Anthropic a supply‑chain risk intensified industry anxieties about government contracts and regulatory scrutiny. Lire la suite

Anthropic announced that its Claude chatbot’s memory feature is now available to all users, including those on the free plan. The update also introduces a dedicated tool that lets users import data from rival chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, eliminating the need to relearn context. The memory‑import process involves copying a pre‑written prompt into the previous AI and transferring the output into Claude’s settings. The move coincides with a rise in Claude’s popularity, driven by tools like Claude Code and Claude Cowork, and follows the recent launch of Opus 4.6 and Sonnet 4.6 models. Lire la suite

OpenAI announced a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense that it says protects three core red lines: mass domestic surveillance, autonomous weapons, and high‑stakes automated decisions. The company stresses a multi‑layered safety approach that includes full control over its safety stack, cloud‑based deployment, cleared personnel involvement, and strong contractual protections. OpenAI contrasts its stance with Anthropic, which failed to secure a similar deal, and emphasizes that its architecture prevents direct integration of models into weapon systems or sensors. Executives acknowledge the agreement was rushed and faced criticism, but argue it helps de‑escalate tensions between the defense sector and AI labs. Lire la suite

Anthropic’s chatbot Claude has surged to the number‑one spot in Apple’s U.S. free app store, overtaking OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The rapid climb, from outside the top 100 in January to first place within days, coincides with record daily sign‑ups, a 60% rise in free users since January, and a doubling of paid subscribers this year. The growth follows Anthropic’s contentious negotiations with the Pentagon, which led President Donald Trump to halt federal use of the company’s products and the Defense Secretary to label Anthropic a supply‑chain threat. OpenAI later announced its own Pentagon agreement with safeguards. Lire la suite