Pentagon Moves to Cut Anthropic From Defense AI Work

Defense Contractors May Be Forced to Remove Claude From Pentagon Programs Chris Riotta (@chrisriotta) • March 6, 2026

The Pentagon officially designated artificial intelligence developer Anthropic a "supply-chain risk" late Thursday, escalating a weeks-long confrontation between the Trump administration and one of Silicon Valley's most prominent AI companies over how frontier models can be used in military and intelligence operations.

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The U.S. Department of Defense said in a written statement that it had "officially informed Anthropic leadership, the company and its products are deemed a supply-chain risk, effective immediately," a step that prohibits any defense contractors from using the company's technology in work connected to the U.S. military.

The move follows months of tensions between Pentagon officials and Anthropic over restrictions embedded in its Claude AI models limiting uses tied to ...