Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said Thursday that the company “cannot in good conscience comply with[the Department of Defense’s]request” to give the military unrestricted access to AI systems.
“Antropic understands that military decisions are made by the Department of the Army, not private companies,” Amodei said in a statement. “However, we believe that in limited cases, AI could undermine rather than protect democratic values. And some applications may simply be beyond what today’s technology can safely and reliably implement.”
Two such cases are mass surveillance of American citizens and fully autonomous weapons without human involvement. The Department of Defense believes that Anthropic models should be available for any lawful purpose and that their use should not be directed by private companies.
Amodei’s statement came less than 24 hours before Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s deadline for Anthropic to acquiesce to the request or face the consequences was 5:01 p.m. Friday. The Pentagon is trying to sway Amodei by labeling Anthropic a supply chain risk, or by invoking the Defense Production Act to effectively force the company to comply with its orders. The DPA gives the president the power to force companies to prioritize or expand production for national defense.
Mr. Amodei pointed out the contradiction between these two threats. “One labels us as a national security risk, and the other labels Claude as essential to national security.”
He added that it is the Department of Defense’s right to choose the contractor that best aligns with its vision, “but I hope they reconsider given the tremendous value that Anthropic’s technology provides to our military.”
Anthropic is currently the only frontier AI lab with a classified response system for the military, but the Department of Defense is reportedly preparing xAI for the job.
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“Our fervent desire is to continue to serve the Department of Defense and our warfighters with the two safety measures that have been requested,” Amodei said. “If the Department chooses to offboard Anthropic, we will work to avoid disruption to ongoing military programs, operations, or other critical missions and allow for a smooth transition to another provider.”
TLDR, he’s saying, “Just break up. No need to be mean about it.”
