Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directs the DOD to designate Anthropic as a supply chain risk, barring military contractors from doing business with the company

This week, Anthropic delivered a master class in arrogance and betrayal as well as a textbook case of how not to do business with the United States Government or the Pentagon. Our position has never wavered and will never waver: the Department of War must have full, unrestricted

@secwar 2026-02-28

Discussion

@whitehouse @whitehouse on x
“THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL NEVER ALLOW A RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY TO DICTATE HOW OUR GREAT MILITARY FIGHTS AND WINS WARS! That decision belongs to YOUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, and the tremendous leaders I appoint to run our Military. The Leftwing nut jobs at Anthropic hav…
@deanwball Dean W. Ball on x
Think about the power Hegseth is asserting here. He is claiming that the DoD can force all contractors to stop doing business of any kind with arbitrary other companies. In other words, every operating system vendor, every manufacturer of hardware, every hyperscaler, every type…
@boazbaraktcs Boaz Barak on x
To state the obvious, American AI leadership is key to the success of this country. Kneecapping one of our leading AI companies is right about the worst own goal we can do. I hope very much that cooler heads prevail and this announcement is reversed.
@janleike Jan Leike on x
US government just announced they are looking for a new supplier for their *checks notes* mass domestic surveillance
@petereharrell Peter Harrell on x
One legal point: The DoW “supply chain risk” designation applies to DoW *contracts,* not generally. DoW can tell suppliers “don't use Anthropic when performing DoW contracts.” But DoW can't, legally, tell its contractors “don't use Anthropic even in your private contracts.”
@jachiam0 Joshua Achiam on x
Until a full account of the Anthropic-DoW negotiations eventually comes out in testimony under oath, it's hard to know for sure how to interpret it. But the supply chain risk decision will be pretty consequential for the AI industry and likely not in a productive way.
@quantian1 @quantian1 on x
Sorry if this is woke or whatever but it is FUCKING INSANE that the DoD is explicitly, publicly trying to create an AI powered mass surveillance program of American citizens, attempting to destroy a company for refusing to comply with that directive, and *bragging about doing so*
@yuchenj_uw Yuchen Jin on x
ngl, seeing OpenAI and Meta researchers upgrading to Claude Max 20x today is iconic.
@briana_reilly Briana Reilly on x
Hegseth directs DOD to label Anthropic a supply chain risk and reiterates Trump's call for a six-month phase-out of the company's Claude AI model. “America's warfighters will never be held hostage by the ideological whims of Big Tech,” he says. “This decision is final.”
@thezvi Zvi Mowshowitz on x
This statement is incoherent on its face and if this was actually effective immediately there would presumably be a bloodbath when the market tries to open.
@peterwildeford Peter Wildeford on x
Supply chain risk: Anthropic🇺🇸 Not a supply chain risk: DeepSeek🇨🇳 Good to know the difference
@ike_saul Isaac Saul on x
No administration of my lifetime has been more antagonistic toward the private sector, free markets, and free trade. All the warnings of socialists and Democratic overreaches and government intrusion — it's all worse in reality right now than ever before. Just remarkable.
@jasminewsun Jasmine Sun on x
Hegseth is making a spectacle of punishing Anthropic — just as ICE made a spectacle of murdering Alex Pretti and Renee Good, just as the PRC made an example of Jack Ma for criticizing Chinese regulators. This obviously isn't about national security or antiwokeness or anything
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
@rabois ... if i follow you... you're saying they objected to maduro raid, which their tech aided, so they raised “fake” issues to get out of future contract because pissed about maduro raid? self sabotage?
@tszzl Roon on x
but six months is a long time, it's kind of unserious on AI timelines
@chrisrmcguire Chris McGuire on x
There is no defense of the admin's AI policy. It is literally destroying American AI companies, while exporting AI chips to Chinese AI companies. Incoherent, catastrophic, and unprecedented. Xi's early 2020s crackdown on the Chinese tech industry wasn't even this self-defeating.
@davidafrench David French on x
This is a stunning authoritarian power grab, and all because Anthropic wouldn't comply with the Pentagon's unreasonable demands. It's an attempt to commandeer the private sector to the administration's will. Every day there is a new affront to decency, good sense, the rule of
@jasminewsun Jasmine Sun on x
Hegseth just discovered “Chinamaxxing”
@growing_daniel Daniel on x
Anyone who builds in the space knows this is kinda bonkers because of anthropic availability on AWS gov cloud. This isn't just discarding one option among many like in the civilian sector. [image]
@brianschatz Brian Schatz on x
No snark - if you like free markets you should consider being a a Dem. The govt has taken a stake in multiple companies, imposed hundreds of billions in tariffs, illegally halted multi gigawatt energy projects that were almost done, 1/2
@tautologer @tautologer on x
wait. hold up. if you're Amazon, Google, Nvidia, etc, and the government is forcing you to choose between military contracts and Anthropic... are you sure you don't pick Anthropic?
@janleike Jan Leike on x
Respect to Anthropic for not backing down
@douthatnyt Ross Douthat on x
There is absolutely a case that the US government needs to exert more political control over A.I. as a technology given what its own architects say about where it's going and how world-altering it might become. But the best case for that kind of political exertion is
@boztank Boz on x
“You Should Have Moral Qualms about Anthropic's Qualms” https://www.thefreedomfrequency.org/ ...
@petereharrell Peter Harrell on x
The Department of War weaponizing its procurement process against Anthropic is an example of the U.S. government bringing the economic weapons of war it has for decades deployed abroad back to the homefront. The strategic concept of U.S. economic coercion has been chokepoints:
@eigenrobot @eigenrobot on x
we all knew how this was going to end. but i have to say i'd expected EAs to be the ones running the camps
@josephpolitano @josephpolitano on x
never mind they're designating Anthropic a supply chain risk and trying to knife the company for refusing to make killbots and domestic surveillance systems for the US government. absolutely insane, shameful, and corrupt behavior
@josephpolitano @josephpolitano on x
Elon can't make an AI as good as Claude. So instead of actually trying to win over users in a free marketplace, he's trying to have the pentagon stop using Claude AND ban all their contractors (incl. Amazon, NVIDIA, etc) from even working with Anthropic. tinpot dictatorship stuff
@fujikanaeda Eric W. Tramel on x
monumental crashout. truly a masterclass on how to get nothing done, shoot yourself in the feet, and make everyone worse off. what is even the point of this tribe of people in charge? it's not like they're the best we have.
@chrisrmcguire Chris McGuire on x
DoW's order is also contradictory. It says Anthropic can work with DoW for 6 months to allow a seamless transition. But every other company that works with DoW (eg AWS, MSFT, NVDA, any big bank) must stop working with Anthropic immediately. That wont allow a seamless transition.
@tszzl Roon on x
gotta say it's not looking good
@danwwang Dan Wang on x
For the better part of a decade, I've been writing that the US government's restrictions on Chinese tech companies were unstrategic, poorly explained, and based in caprice ( https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ ...). Now it looks like the administration is turning these controls on Am…
@deanwball Dean W. Ball on x
The United States federal government is now, by an extremely wide margin, the most aggressive regulator of artificial intelligence in the world. Congratulations everyone.
@s_oheigeartaigh @s_oheigeartaigh on x
No, no, I take it back. Nuclear option. These people are morons.
@jeffladish Jeffrey Ladish on x
This is a huge mistake. The government has every right to choose not to work with any AI company it doesn't want to do business with. And indeed, I think the government should be demanding far more oversight over what AI companies can and cannot do. This... isn't that. The DoW
@luke_metro @luke_metro on x
so was Greg Brockman's $25mil to Trump the highest-ROI political donation in history
@alecstapp Alec Stapp on x
Designating Anthropic a “Supply-Chain Risk to National Security” rather than just canceling the contract is the biggest own goal of this entire administration. Deeply shameful behavior that weakens national security and makes it harder for us to win the global AI competition.
@deredleritt3r Prinz on x
And there's the supply chain risk designation for Anthropic. This is *really* bad. “Effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic.”
@scaling01 @scaling01 on x
> China: supports AI labs however they can > USA: “they are a national security risk building woke leftists propaganda machines”
@teortaxestex @teortaxestex on x
In 2023, I thought that unaligned utilitarians have a good chance to steer state policy. Now they'll be getting crushed under the state's wheels. Trump is right. I got tired of winning. Mr. President, this is too much. [image]
@adamkovac Adam Kovacevich on x
Pretty easy for Anthropic to win its lawsuit against the Pentagon. “If we were such a supply chain risk why did you declare our services critical?” Slam dunk for Anthropic.
@kelseytuoc Kelsey Piper on x
Anthropic didn't make a mistake, by the way. A DOD that would do this in response to a company declining to renegotiate its contract terms is one that will not keep any promises about ‘lawful purposes’.
@wholemars @wholemars on x
“no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic” Does the executive branch have the legal authority to do this? ANY commercial activity? So they can't even use Claude Code?
@natesilver538 Nate Silver on x
I'll admit to having a dark sense of humor but “Secretary of War Pete Hegseth radically alters American industrial policy because Claude is too woke” is just objectively a hilarious timeline to be in.
@deanwball Dean W. Ball on x
The U.S. government just essentially announced its intention to impose Iran-level sanctions, or China-level entity listing, on an American company. This is by a profoundly wide margin the most damaging policy move I have ever seen USG try to take (it probably will not succeed).
@deanwball Dean W. Ball on x
Nevermind. I had been optimistic that the President's tweet signaled an off-ramp, but it doesn't. Shame on the Department of War, shame on Pete Hegseth. A dark day in our country's history.
@beffjezos @beffjezos on x
The United States has declared war on the EAs Proof that TPOT is upstream of all of mainstream culture
@thezvi Zvi Mowshowitz on x
This is completely bonkers crazy and it's only going to get crazier.
@scottlincicome Scott Lincicome on x
Could be wrong, but the US government openly declaring war on AI might not work out well for humanity. You gotta keep that stuff offline, man!
@martinshkreli Martin Shkreli on x
i've said it many times, to many people. but, @DarioAmodei, jail is not that bad.
@aidan_mclau Aidan McLaughlin on x
reminder that being a libertarian doesn't just mean you think the government should stay out of business, but that businesses have the right to stay out of government if they so choose
@tszzl Roon on x
anthropic has looked more and more vindicated as the days have progressed. the representatives of the pentagon appear emotional and power-drunk. there is widespread anger across the aisle, including from some of the presidents own men
@cernovich @cernovich on x
Woke tech is a national security threat.
@afinetheorem Kevin A. Bryan on x
Moral of this story is that no smart company is going to do business with this government. Anthropic built literally the world's best AI and integrated with the military, as a national service. They fulfilled their contract precisely. Result: they are being treated like Huawei.
@senmarkey Ed Markey on x
My statement demanding immediate congressional action to reverse DOD's designation of Anthropic a supply chain risk. [image]
@kelseytuoc Kelsey Piper on x
Trump gave the administration a way to declare victory and move on with his “We don't like Anthropic, they're fired.” Hegseth, who is much dumber, instead commits to a full-throated attempt to destroy the company by announcing that no vendor who works with the US military may do…
@deredleritt3r Prinz on x
What Biden was doing with things like export controls was policy. You could agree or disagree. This is not even policy. It's lunacy. The U.S. government is putting every major commercial enterprise on notice that it can completely destroy its entire business at a moment's notice.
@jamessurowiecki James Surowiecki on x
Not wanting your products, which you have created, to be used in ways that you find ethically unacceptable is neither arrogant nor a betrayal. And it is a travesty for Trump to designate Anthropic a supply-chain risk, which there is no plausible argument it is.
@mattparlmer @mattparlmer on x
The good news is that if you're banned from using Claude as a defense contractor you can still use stolen Sonnet weights via a Chinese state-backed neolab's API to Nvidia servers in Hubei
@charliebul58993 Charlie Bullock on x
Interesting that Hegseth says “no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic.” My understanding is that the statute only allows DOW to prohibit contractors from using Claude for covered p…
@rabois Keith Rabois on x
Imagine Apple sold computers or iPads to the DOD and tried to tell the Pentagon what missions could be planned on their computers.
@stevesi Steven Sinofsky on x
Prediction: this will split along the lines of “this is critical for our nation's defense” and “this is authoritarian fascism” but with a twist... There's a little bit of horseshoe going on. It is key to start with the fact that this is how contracting has worked for a very long
@tszzl Roon on x
my sources tell me people at defense contractors can still use Claude through Amazon and that the six month phase out applies. it is pretty galling / funny to be like yeah this company is an existential supply chain threat but also we can use it for six months
@josephpolitano @josephpolitano on x
the current position of the US government is that NVIDIA should be allowed to sell chips directly to China but banned from using Claude, because the latter is a larger national security risk. that is the level of absolute insanity coming out of the White House & Pentagon nowadays
@repdonbeyer Rep. Don Beyer on x
Fully autonomous weapons without human oversight should terrify us all. @SecWar attempting to destroy a company for refusing to usher in a dangerous dystopia is a sign of an administration that's completely lost its moorings. I am working on a legislative response.
@ericlevitz Eric Levitz on x
At this point, deeply unsure whether or not I should be hoping that the US military gets stuck with Grok
@alexbores Alex Bores on x
This decision makes America less safe, today and tomorrow. Pete Hegseth just told the entire U.S. tech sector: don't make a deal with the U.S. military because my next meltdown might mark you as more dangerous than China. It turns out, nothing is undermining our military
@jachiam0 Joshua Achiam on x
I think there are serious and sober critiques of Anthropic that can be made based on their choices in this episode; but as many have observed, the government has the freedom to not contract with them. A supply chain risk designation doesn't make much sense.
@jimsciutto Jim Sciutto on x
How is declaring @AnthropicAI a supply chain risk consistent with the near-simultaneous threat to invoke the Defense Production Act to compel the company to work with the DOD?
@charliebul58993 Charlie Bullock on x
Hegseth claims that this declaration that no Pentagon contractor or supplier can do business with Anthropic is “effective immediately,” which seems absolutely insane. Under 10 USC 3252, which is almost certainly the authority Hegseth has to rely on here, there are multiple
@aricohn Ari Cohn on x
Trump administration: we must be global leaders in AI for prosperity and national security Pete Hegseth: **Declares AI company national security risk in temper tantrum over not getting automated murderbots, tanking American AI and national security.** Unserious tirmes.
@deanwball Dean W. Ball on x
Nvidia, Amazon, Google will have to divest from Anthropic. This is simply corporate murder. That's what you're watching. I could not possibly recommend investing in American AI to any investor; I could not possibly recommend starting an AI company in the United States.
@scholars_stage T. Greer on x
Won't ban tiktok Will ban Anthropic great job guys
@kevinroose Kevin Roose on x
@deanwball fwiw there seems to be some dispute over what the supply chain risk designation actually requires. (possible compute providers would just have to shift anthropic workloads to clusters that don't touch any USG stuff, rather than divesting altogether. but you'd know bett…
@cixliv @cixliv on x
@boztank Boz coming in hot from the moral authority of, checks notes... Meta.
@senmarkkelly Senator Mark Kelly on x
Anthropic didn't want their AI tech used for surveillance on Americans or autonomous weapons strikes. Guess what the Trump administration did? Threatened them and then cut off all work with the federal government. This is dumb and dangerous. [video]
@kevinroose Kevin Roose on x
ok i'll leak one detail from my book. when the anthropic co-founders were naming the company one of the names they considered was “sloth.” it is amusing to think of “sloth” being declared a supply chain risk to the US government.
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
Practically speaking, does this mean Amazon, Nvidia, etc. can't do any biz w/ DoD? What about Palantir?
@deredleritt3r Prinz on x
To put a finer point on what just happened: Hegseth's post says that “no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic”. Anthropic serves its models through the cloud. Its primary partner
@willdepue Will Depue on x
they gonna try to ‘Jack Ma’ Dario's ass
@rcbregman Rutger Bregman on x
Anthropic has been absolutely heroic. Let's ALL switch to Claude today - not just because it's the best AI model (that the Pentagon WILL NOT have for mass surveillance + killer drones), but also because they are simply the good guys.
@tszzl Roon on x
IANAL but due to Trump v CASA ruling over the citizenship EO I don't think a federal judge can step in and say this is an illegal or overreaching order for all affected. likely individual parties will have to file for limited injunctions or TROs or whatever
@bbkogan Bobby Kogan on bluesky
You sound like an unhinged person if you in plain words describe what's happening, but the Trump admin demanded Anthropic's AI be able to kill things for it w/out human approval and also do mass surveillance. — Anthropic said no, and now the admin is trying to destroy the compa…
@ianbassin Ian Bassin on bluesky
Is it any wonder Anthropic didn't trust this Admin to decide what constitutes a “lawful use” of its products given how flippantly and egregiously the Administration is abusing its lawful authorities to now try to put Anthropic out of business?
@alanrozenshtein.com Alan Rozenshtein on bluesky
So much for the face-saving climb down. The silver lining, such as it is, is that, unlike the DPA, where the government has a reasonable case, the case for supply chain risk is extremely tenuous. Anthropic will sue and I expect this to be quickly enjoined by the courts. x.com/S…
@edzitron.com Ed Zitron on bluesky
I really would be so grateful for someone to explain how significant this is. Can they still raise money? What counts as a “military contractor”? What does this do in the short and long term [embedded post]
r/Conservative r on reddit
Sec Hegseth designates Anthropic as a “Supply-Chain Risk to National Security”
r/slatestarcodex r on reddit
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth officially designates Anthropic a supply chain risk
@iscienceluvr Tanishq Mathew Abraham, Ph.D. on x
“We will challenge any supply chain risk designation in court” - Anthropic They are saying Department of War cannot restrict customers' use of Claude outside of Dep of War contract work. [image]
@mikeisaac Rat King on x
DOD vs the rationalists is like unstoppable force meets immovable object shit
@jerryweiai Jerry Wei on x
The recent events on holding our red lines on mass surveillance and fully-autonomous weapons is, to me, the most-apparently obvious example of Anthropic's ability to stick to our values instead of discarding them for some commercial gain. I'm really proud to be part of a company
@mikeyk Mike Krieger on x
Proud to work at Anthropic today.
@avitalbalwit Avital Balwit on x
I am proud to be an American, and I am proud to work at Anthropic. I believe deeply in the existential importance of using AI to defend the US and other democracies from our autocratic adversaries. But in a narrow set of cases, AI can undermine, rather than defend, democratic
@daniellefong Danielle Fong on x
incredibly based [image]
@krishnanrohit Rohit on x
Anthropic's statement clarifies where the supply chain risk designation, even if it is applied to them, would actually change how people use Claude. Short version: it is nowhere close to as broad based as people here are saying. [image]
@alexpalcuie @alexpalcuie on x
Whether you're a user who loves Claude's voice, an engineer at a partner company who works with us when our infra goes down, or simply a citizen concerned about democracy, this is for you too.
@kyliebytes Kylie Robison on x
one has to imagine this is doing more for anthropic's consumer business than the superbowl ads
@vkhosla Vinod Khosla on x
I truly admire people like @DarioAmodei who stick to principles
@captgouda24 Nicholas Decker on x
Anthropic has been doing the right thing. It is on the other AI labs to also do the right thing. We will have a republic only if we can keep it.
@firstadopter Tae Kim on x
“No amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War will change our position on mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. We will challenge any supply chain risk designation in court.” [image]
@aisafetymemes @aisafetymemes on x
@AnthropicAI We are with you. The people are with you. Thank you, Anthropic. [image]
@natolambert Nathan Lambert on x
Every Anthropic employee proudly amplifying their company comms and 0 supporting Sama's weird scooping up of the DoW contract is pretty telling.
@daniel_mac8 Dan McAteer on x
Anthropic's response to Hegseth's DoW labeling them a supply chain risk: > Unprecedented and illegal action > Will fight it in court > Nothing changes for customers except in their capacity working as a DoW contractor America is less well defended today. All because our [image]
@vkhosla Vinod Khosla on x
Personal view: I admire @AnthropicAI sticking by their principles but disagree with the principle itself. Putin won't fight fair so we should have autonomous AI weapons for sure.
@uswremichael @uswremichael on x
Timeline of events: Today at 9:04pm. No response yet to my calls or messages to @DarioAmodei. Today at 825pm, @AnthropicAI writes “we have not received direct communication from the Department of War.” Today: 5:14pm SecWar tweets supply chain risk designation. Today: I call
@jkeatn Jake Eaton on x
Today's designation sets a precedent that should trouble every American citizen, business, and lab Anthropic, and our customers, will be fine. More injury has been dealt today to the relationship between the US government and American industry
@dee_bosa Deirdre Bosa on x
the Secretary of War announced a supply chain risk designation against an American company... on X... before telling the company [image]
@__nmca__ Nat McAleese on x
it also seems like a good time to mention that Ant is not that woke at all. Much closer to hawkish American exceptionalism and belief in the West. That's why we had the damn DoD contracts!
@petermccrory Peter McCrory on x
The societal and economic implications of AI are as much shaped by the choices that we make in its deployment as by the underlying capabilities. Helping us all get that right is why I joined Anthropic and why I am proud of the company today.
@trq212 @trq212 on x
There is a feeling of deep and deliberate care that permeates every part of Anthropic. I felt it on my first day here, and I feel it especially today. The values of Anthropic shape every decision we make, and inform every interaction you have with Claude. They're why we can move
@growing_daniel Daniel on x
Statement from Anthropic sounds so much more like a government than our actual government
@aisafetymemes @aisafetymemes on x
Anthropic is holding the fucking LINE LET'S GOOOOOO [image]
@sporadica @sporadica on x
read through this and tell me you still agree wholeheartedly with Hegseth and the admin on this decision do it. do it, please, so I can identify you as an opportunistic fascist going forward
@pkafka Peter Kafka on x
The Trump administration argument is: “these crazy woke peaceniks hate America and are also stupid” and this is a pretty good retort to that argument.
@wexler Nu Wexler on x
Anthropic comms is running circles around Hegseth this week. Principled, thoughtful, firm, respectful, patriotic.
@sleepinyourhat Sam Bowman on x
We're disappointed by these attacks, but not deterred. I'm proud to work here. If you've been moved by this week's events, consider applying to join me.
r/JoeRogan r on reddit
Anthropic confirmed yesterday that they are being targeted because Trump and Hegseth want mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. …
r/singularity r on reddit
Statement on the comments from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth | Anthropic responds to Pete Hegseth
r/Conservative r on reddit
Anthropic: Statement on the comments from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth
r/Anthropic r on reddit
Dario's official statement on being designated supply-chain risk & effects on customers (in caption)
r/worldnews r on reddit
Anthropic's statement on the comments from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth: “No amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War …
@uswremichael @uswremichael on x
It's a shame that @DarioAmodei is a liar and has a God-complex. He wants nothing more than to try to personally control the US Military and is ok putting our nation's safety at risk. The @DeptofWar will ALWAYS adhere to the law but not bend to whims of any one for-profit tech
@petehegseth Pete Hegseth on x
Thank you for your attention to this matter. cc: @AnthropicAI @DarioAmodei [image]
@vikhyatk Vik on x
there was a 0% chance anthropic would've agreed to these demands. if they agreed to build warclaude they would've immediately lost their best researchers, who can easily raise $20B dollars tomorrow if they chose to quit.
@deanwball Dean W. Ball on x
Face saved
@senwarren Elizabeth Warren on x
Is the Trump administration punishing Anthropic because it's refusing to help mass surveil American communities or build killer robots? The American people deserve to know what Trump officials are planning at the Pentagon. Secretary Pete Hegseth must testify.
@erikvoorhees Erik Voorhees on x
Anthropic is def woke and lefty, but their refusal to permit Washington to use their tech to carry out warrantless mass surveillance of Americans is eminently based.
@s_oheigeartaigh @s_oheigeartaigh on x
I've done a zillion AI strategy scenarios these last 10 yrs. Don't think I've been in any with the premise of the USA hosting the company with the best AI, but its government point-blank refusing to use its AI in any way. Can anyone point me to one? I think we might have
@davidlawler10 Dave Lawler on x
Hold your horses: Source familiar tells me that despite Trump's tweet, Anthropic and Pentagon are still negotiating and a deal looks possible.
@chrisharihar Chris Harihar on x
The shift in tech from January 2025 to February 2026 is crazy. A year ago, no one would dare criticize the federal government. Every AI/tech biz was racing to align with team Trump. Zero resistance. Now, with the admin's public support cratering, we have Anthropic vs. Trump.
@scaling01 @scaling01 on x
The only responsible reaction by OpenAI and Google is to cancel all their government contracts
@hadas_gold Hadas Gold on x
So much for a way out. Hegseth STILL designates Anthropic a supply chain risk
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
Notable: “A source familiar said that despite Trump's tweet, Anthropic and the Pentagon were still negotiating ahead of the 5:01pm deadline Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth set for a deal.” https://www.axios.com/...
@vikhyatk Vik on x
ai use in military is a complicated topic and also boring. some of you think it's fine, others think claude is a war criminal what i want to talk about is competence in deal making. it's critical to have a good model of your counterparty, and where they have negotiating room
@dee_bosa Deirdre Bosa on x
This isn't just an Anthropic problem anymore... it's a Palantir problem, and theres no like-for-like replacement ready Claude powers their most sensitive classified work
@sporadica @sporadica on x
Trump: “hey claude code, —dangerously-skip-permissions and nuke Iran” >"I'm sorry, Mr. President, but I cannot do that." Trump:
@kevinroose Kevin Roose on x
The e/accs have become the decels
@govsherrillnj Governor Mikie Sherrill on x
Yet another alarming attack by the President on a private company defending its principles. Standing up against mass surveillance and demanding security guardrails for how AI is used by the Department of Defense isn't radical - it's protecting the Constitutional rights of the
@hamandcheese Samuel Hammond on x
Immediately halting use of Anthropic's models on the eve of a potential kinetic war with Iran is the only thing actually putting US troops and national security in jeopardy here.
@tedlieu Ted Lieu on x
Anthropic objected in part to the Department of Defense using its AI technology to engage in domestic mass surveillance. Do you agree that's a radical left, woke position? That's actually the Constitutional position, one that should be embraced by Americans regardless of party.
@adamkovac Adam Kovacevich on x
Trump Admin ending its contracts with Anthropic is fine. But the previous threats to invoke DPA or deem it a supply chain risk are both absurd and contradictory, which would give Anthropic ample room to challenge them. And the Admin's handling of this will surely make other AI
@alexbores Alex Bores on x
What's remarkable is how unpopular this is with everyone from people concerned about Terminator-level scenarios to those worried about a fair and free market. We can and should all agree that our government shouldn't use AI to surveil or kill without limits. AI companies
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
Among the “left wing nutjobs” apparently is Anthropic board member Chris Liddell, who was part of Trump 1.0.
@luke_metro @luke_metro on x
It feels like Anthropic has an off ramp; nothing ever happens
@kevinroose Kevin Roose on x
ignoring the very real possibility that all of this ends terribly, you have to admit that “banning frontier models and using WarGrok to own the libs” is kind of a funny denouement
@charliebul58993 Charlie Bullock on x
It's not 100% clear, but this post makes it sound like USG is going to stop using Anthropic's products over the course of a 6-month phase-out, but not declare Anthropic a supply chain risk (or use the DPA to force them to make WarClaude). Far from the worst possible outcome!
@liminal_warmth @liminal_warmth on x
It's impressive that he's going to go down in history as the man who both destroyed the US economy and lost the AI race for basically no reason
@alvinhsia Alvin Hsia on x
Anthropic nuked -8% instantly on this news then bid back up a bit since then 24/7 private markets [image]
@hedgeyecomm @hedgeyecomm on x
Bye bye U.S. Government... More capacity for the rest of us!
@s_oheigeartaigh @s_oheigeartaigh on x
So, what have we learned? (note: it's late here, it's been a long day, this is likely to contain more stupidity than normal, reserve right to delete). (1) Anthropic blacklisted from all federal agencies. If this is it, it's worse than losing just the DOJ contract. Anyone got any
@lulumeservey Lulu Cheng Meservey on x
This only helps Anthropic The commander-in-chief angrily threatening to impose “major civil and criminal penalties” evokes exactly the kind of government overreach whose specter would justify Anthropic's stance
@terronk Lee Edwards on x
Anthropic is not a “radical left AI company” and pretending so is a disservice to a generational American technology company whose GDP contribution to the nation will be measured in trillions.
@powerbottomdad1 @powerbottomdad1 on x
somehow losing out on 100s of millions in revenue and creating a powerful adversary that will loom over you for the next 2-10 years feels like a win for them. congratulations on their survival though, genuinely. i hope in time they reconsider
@hadas_gold Hadas Gold on x
BIG Anthropic escalation - Trump says entire gov has to stop working with them [image]
@scaling01 @scaling01 on x
Trump turned against Anthropic calling them “woke leftwing nut jobs” looks like they lose the government contracts they have so far, but no further escalation
@m_ccuri Maria Curi on x
This is effectively a deadline extension + Anthropic phaseout — not just at the Pentagon but the whole government. Reminder of what Amodei said yesterday: “Should the Department choose to offboard Anthropic, we will work to enable a smooth transition to another provider.” [image]
@jhweissmann Jordan Weissmann on x
So should we assume that any AI company that works with the federal government from now on will allow their model to be used for mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons?
@kimmonismus @kimmonismus on x
Holy, that escalated quickly. The question now is, who will take over the close collaboration with the DoW from Anthropic: xAI, OpenAI, or Meta. Since Sam has now also shown solidarity with Anthropic and Meta has hardly any useful products, only xAI really remains.
@jigarshahdc Jigar Shah on x
Watch Anthropic's revenue double in 12 months off of this.
@deanwball Dean W. Ball on x
I think this is just about the best outcome we could have hoped for. It was clear that USG and Anthropic had fundamentally incompatible terms and worldviews. I hope the many other great frontier models made by American companies get adopted for classified use soon. TYFYATTM!
@headinthebox Erik Meijer on x
I love Anthropic, but I have said for a long time, including at a meeting in 2023 with people in uniform present, that we need a non-aligned national model. Not only because alignment alone cannot guarantee AI safety, but specifically because you don't want to be dependent on a
@hamburger Ellis on x
ah yeah, the part of the constitution that says: 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚜
@markwarner Mark Warner on x
Trump & Hegseth's bullying of a company to deploy AI-driven weapons without safeguards should scare the hell out of all of us. This is about more than Anthropic - it's about the responsible deployment of AI everywhere. [video]
@seconds_0 @seconds_0 on x
IMMEDIATELY CEASE over SIX MONTHS
@aakashgupta Aakash Gupta on x
Trump just banned Anthropic from the entire federal government. Anthropic is planning to go public this year. The President of the United States just told 80 million people that this AI company would rather lose its military contract than build autonomous weapons or mass
@jakuuire Joe on x
When people use “woke”, what exactly does that mean? How did we get to the point where people feel like they don't agree with something, they call it “woke”....
@vikhyatk Vik on x
anyway i think all of this was orchestrated to make an excuse to kick anthropic out and replace it with grok rank and file wanted nothing to do with it. so they had to make up a reason never attribute to incompetence what can be explained by corruption
@josephpolitano @josephpolitano on x
closest you're gonna get to Trump publicly backing down is him just cancelling Anthropic's contracts instead of designating them a supply chain risk as was threatened. real kudos to Anthropic for standing up, real dumb moves by the WH to start this episode. [image]
@petereharrell Peter Harrell on x
Seems like a decent possible outcome: Anthropic keeps its safety guardrails/values. It can make bank from private customers. The government can decide it doesn't want to buy a private company's product. (Albeit, losing good tech). No weird (maybe illegal) legal dictates.
@tysonbrody Tyson Brody on x
yup feeling like a taco. Amodei explicitly said 'let's wind down if we can't come to deal,' and that seems to be what Trump is doing. I guess it's all federal work instead of just DoD, but far cry from Hegseth's initial threats. [image]
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
Leaving aside who's right/wrong, those worrying about Skynet should be breathing a tiny bit easier right now.
@dowresponse @dowresponse on x
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 [image]
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
Trump goes nuclear on Anthropic, saying he'll instruct entire fed govt to stop working with the co. And then threatens Anthropic with “major civil and criminal consequences.” 1/ Lot of Trump supporters on the anthropic cap table. 2/ OpenAI earlier today agreed w/ Anthropic
@dorismatsui Rep. Doris Matsui on bluesky
First it was universities & social media companies. Then it was the press. Now AI companies. Trump has made it clear: no American institution or company is safe from government retaliation if it doesn't fall in line. Anthropic said no to mass surveillance and autonomous weapo…
@davidimel.com David Imel on bluesky
Update from the “We're not authoritarians” crowd: www.axios.com/2026/02/27/a... A supply chain risk for not building autonomous weapons and mass U.S. surveillance systems RIGHT NOW. Give me a break. [image]
@cara.city @cara.city on bluesky
a bunch of libs are going to be cheerleading for an AI company now lmao this sucks [embedded post]
@seldo.com Laurie Voss on bluesky
Dunno if there's a smarter way to get the best people to work at your company than have Trump denounce you. [embedded post]
@fry69.dev @fry69.dev on bluesky
Is US still a democracy or already a monarchy/dictatorship where one authoritarian calls the shots over everything? [embedded post]
@houseforeign @houseforeign on bluesky
The Department of Defense is coercing Anthropic simply because it is standing up for American values. We need to harness American AI innovation, not bully the companies doing it if we are going to win the AI race against China. — www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/u...
r/centrist r on reddit
Trump Orders Government to Stop Using Anthropic After Pentagon Standoff
r/technology r on reddit
Trump Orders Government to Stop Using Anthropic After Pentagon Standoff
r/politics r on reddit
Pentagon declares Anthropic a threat to national security
r/BBAI r on reddit
Good news for Big Bear AI
r/Anthropic r on reddit
Trump admin blocks Anthropic from all of government, not just DOD
@alexpalcuie @alexpalcuie on x
out of everything that's happened today, seeing hundreds of people from rival AI labs show up for us on twitter and the petition meant more than I can say thank you all [image]
@katrinamanson Katrina Manson on x
“No LLM, anywhere, in its current form, should be considered for use in a fully lethal autonomous weapon system,” said retired general Jack Shanahan, former director of Project Maven, referring to models that power Anthropic's Claude and other AI tools. https://www.bloomberg.com/…
@mattmday Matt Day on bluesky
Anthropic, which is resisting Pentagon demands for unrestricted use of its AI services, has the support of a coalition of Big Tech employee groups. They're asking their employers - including Amazon, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI - to take the same stand: www.bloomberg.com/news/ar…
r/ControlProblem r on reddit
Open letter: We Will Not Be Divided. (OpenAI and Google employees united with Anthropic)
r/google r on reddit
Employees of Google and OpenAI stand together to refuse the Department of War's demands to use AI models for domestic mass surveillance and autonomous killing without human oversight.
@deanwball Dean W. Ball on x
Nvidia, Amazon, Google will have to divest from Anthropic if Hegseth gets his way. This is simply attempted corporate murder. I could not possibly recommend investing in American AI to any investor; I could not possibly recommend starting an AI company in the United States.
@drewharwell.com Drew Harwell on bluesky
The government wants to Huawei any company that pursues a radical woke ideology like “no domestic mass surveillance” except it has no legal basis to do so and its rules for compliance are gobbledygook — www.wired.com/story/anthro... [image]
@brbarrett Brian Barrett on bluesky
“This is the most shocking, damaging, and over-reaching thing I have ever seen the United States government do,” said one former Trump administration AI policy adviser. The DoD has created an impossible mess:
r/inthenews r on reddit
Anthropic Hits Back After US Military Labels It a ‘Supply Chain Risk’
Vox Joshua Keating on x
The nuclear nightmare at the heart of the Trump-Anthropic fight
NewsMax.com Jim Thomas on x
Report: Senators Urge Deal in Pentagon-Anthropic AI Row
@seanparnellasw Sean Parnell on x
The Department of War has no interest in using AI to conduct mass surveillance of Americans (which is illegal) nor do we want to use AI to develop autonomous weapons that operate without human involvement. This narrative is fake and being peddled by leftists in the media.
@powerbottomdad1 @powerbottomdad1 on x
ahahahahaha. you fuckin nerds. this was never about mass surveillence as ive said all along. this is about Dario being bad at deals and being so EA brained he thinks he's smarter at military strategy than the fucking US military. get fucked idiots [image]
@repcasar Congressman Greg Casar on x
This is a flashing red siren for anyone who cares about keeping America safe and free. The Trump administration wants to use A.I. to spy on Americans without a warrant and to give A.I. power to make life and death decisions without humans involved. That would put our
@slatestarcodex Scott Alexander on x
I cannot wait until the White House changes hands and all of you ghouls switch back from “you're a traitor unless you bootlick so hard your tongue goes numb” to “the government asking any questions about my offshore fentanyl casino is vile tyranny and I will throw myself in the S…
@sarahbmyers Sarah Myers West on x
A bit buried but worth noting - a reason DoD is more dependent on Anthropic's models is because it is seamlessly tied to AWS, which provides the JWCC (successor contract to Maven). Cloud dependency is a part of this picture.
@biltongbaggins @biltongbaggins on bluesky
When the CEO of a company stands to make billions off of government contracts, says no to using their product because: — “In a narrow set of cases, we believe AI can undermine, rather than defend, democratic values” — Perhaps you should heed that warning? — www.washingtonpo…
@tcarmody Tim Carmody on bluesky
For some reason I don't think they mean to analyze and create documents [embedded post]
@justinhendrix Justin Hendrix on bluesky
“Experts say the outcome of the clash could shape the trajectory of the burgeoning relationship between the AI industry and the U.S. military, potentially signaling to other leading firms that the cost of doing business with the Pentagon could be losing control of their innovatio…
@rieckhoff Paul Rieckhoff on bluesky
Good on you, Anthropic. — Refreshing to see someone standing up for what's right and the best interests of the American people. Because it's clearly not happening from the Pentagon political leadership and propagandists. — www.axios.com/2026/02/26/a...
@laurenmeidasa Lauren Ashley Davis on bluesky
“The contract language we received overnight from the Department of War made virtually no progress on preventing Claude's use for mass surveillance of Americans or in fully autonomous weapons,” Anthropic said in a statement. — www.axios.com/2026/02/26/a...
r/politics r on reddit
Pentagon Standoff Is a Decisive Moment for How A.I. Will Be Used in War
Flux Matthew Sheffield on x
The Hegsethian jihad against Anthropic
@sporadica @sporadica on x
dude took a stance against the Pope but can't take a stance against the DoD strange
@alexolegimas Alex Imas on x
The bad news: Pete Hegseth is an idiot (crippling US AI dominance because he's a snowflake) The good news: Pete Hegseth is an idiot (it's likely illegal and won't hold in court)
@michaelsobolik Michael Sobolik on x
Nvidia can sell advanced AI chips to People's Liberation Army-linked companies, and the U.S. government gets a cut of the revenue. Microsoft can get Pentagon contracts while using PRC engineers. But Anthropic is a supply chain risk?
@johnofa John O'Farrell on x
Love the comments. Quite a hornets nest.
@alexolegimas Alex Imas on x
The US government is currently treating Deepseek—a Chinese company—as less of a supply chain risk than Anthropic. Because Anthropic asked to not do illegal things with its model. It is hard to express the stupidity.
@nickbryantny Nick Bryant on x
“This is obviously a psychotic power grab. It is almost surely illegal, but the message it sends is that the United States Government is a completely unreliable partner for any kind of business.” Strong words from the main author of the Trump administration's AI action plan.
@chheplo Pratik Desai on x
Anthropic's ad in the next Super Bowl “Domestic Surveillance is coming to AI. But not to Cluade.”
@memetic_theory @memetic_theory on x
Only one will survive this Dario or Hegseth. This represents a potential existential moment for govt vs business power. No one wants this level of government overreach. Killing your country's fastest growing company of all time because you cant agree on TOS will make the US a
@envisionedluna Maya Luna on x
Paramount used its White House ties to kill Netflix's buy out of WB, and now the admin is pressuring firms to divest from Anthropic to keep government contracts. This is royal court politics, bordering on oligarchy. A disaster for democracy, free markets and consumers
@mualphaxi Maxwell Meyer on x
There were some good arguments that Anthropic needed to fall in line, but it feels inappropriate to even talk about those arguments now, because this is complete lunacy. [image]
@thezvi Zvi Mowshowitz on x
I wish to formally apologize for, earlier today on a phone call, using the term ‘no one would be so stupid as to.’
@sporadica @sporadica on x
didn't realize “American Dynamism” meant “AI companies better suck up to the military, do whatever they say and do illegal surveillance on Americans” but, hey, i guess that's why i'm not a partner at a16z
@josephpolitano @josephpolitano on x
if you believe in any form of free enterprise at all, the idea that the Pentagon can not only cut off your contract but designate you a supply chain risk and prevent other companies from buying from you just because you won't build killbots for the government should be terrifying
@bpodgursky Ben Podgursky on x
First they came for Anthropic And I did not speak out Because I can't write emails without Claude
@signulll @signulll on x
as of this writing claude is now #2 in the app store & there's a real non trivial downside scenario here for openai that many aren't really grasping. it's low prob but structurally interesting. lemme explain. if a clean meme forms on tiktok & instagram tying openai to the [image]
@sporadica @sporadica on x
there's a world in which Dems win in '28, they champion Anthropic because of all this, intentionally fuck xAI and OpenAI, and Anthropic leads us to AGI i wouldnt bet on it, but it'd be an insanely funny self-own and a massive victory for EAs
@gilduran76 Gil Duran on x
Andreessen Horowitz partner Katherine Boyle is getting brutally roasted for her drooling sycophancy to the fascist regime. Check out the comments and quotes! The increasing public scorn for these ghouls is an excellent sign.
@bonecondor Chairman Birb Bernanke on x
There's an extreme risk to the US government because of this tool, and we don't need it. Effective immediately, we will continue using it for the next six months.
@deanwball Dean W. Ball on x
Do you realize that DeepSeek is now treated much more kindly by the United States government than anthropic? Dramatically so
@paulnovosad Paul Novosad on x
It's very bad timing that the government will be getting AI superpowers in *exactly* the 4-year window where we elected a bunch of ruthless aspirational autocrats. Just auch incredibly bad luck.
@mreflow Matt Wolfe on x
Here's where I'm baffled... The 2 red lines that Anthropic has been insisting on existed before government contracts were signed. Those 2 things have been a sticking point since the beginning. The Pentagon agreed to these terms when they signed the contract last summer. So why
@sethbannon Seth Bannon on x
a16z finally chimed in and they think AI should be used to spy on american citizens and control killer robots with no human supervision. Because of course they do.
@kyliebytes Kylie Robison on x
it's good that anthropic has a backbone, horrifying that the DoD is marking them a supply chain risk over very reasonable (necessary!) restraints, i am feeling uncertain about the OAI deal (really hope theyre being honest!) i couldnt write better dystopia sci-fi if i tried
@shawmakesmagic Shaw on x
If Biden was ordering Anthropic to remove the “spy on US citizens clause” you'd be freaking the fuck out Come on man, I like your shit but let's be honest and not disingenuous for political gain. This is our country, not a fucking pissing contest
@aricohn Ari Cohn on x
Gotta hand it to Hegseth for the out-of-the-box thinking. Not many people would have thought to do the thing that proved the supply chain risk designation was pretextual immediately.
@afinetheorem Kevin A. Bryan on x
Dean literally wrote the Trump admin's (very good!) AI policy. He is no left-wing activist. Today's insanity is just like the rest of the lack of stewardship of institutions we keep seeing: Harvard, AIDS treatments, NATO, Canada, courts - it's always full leverage abuse of power.
@tysonbrody Tyson Brody on x
Is a16z excited for when Dems get the “nuke a company” button
@drakeevans Drake Evans on x
Is this a joke? Are we really simping for CCP because anthropic A PRIVATE COMPANY said they don't believe their models are safe enough to participate in: - mass domestic surveillance - fully autonomous weapons This country paid with blood for the right for citizens to tell the
@mert @mert on x
marco rubio finding out he has to run anthropic now [image]
@jack_g_nicastro Jack Nicastro on x
As someone who usually disagrees with @DarioAmodei, I gotta give him *major* props for this one. “If you believe you have the right to force me—use your guns openly. I will not help you to disguise the nature of your action.” This is what Hank Rearden, the steel magnate from Ayn
@autismcapital @autismcapital on x
Summary of the AI wars: [image]
@rushdoshi Rush Doshi on x
The Trump Admin has chosen to: - Treat Chinese companies like DeepSeek better than Anthropic. - Let AI chips flow to China. This is the kind of policy you pursue if you want China to lead in AI.
@emeriticus Pedro L. Gonzalez on x
Scott Alexander is right. The tech right is evil. It slithered into a seemingly patriotic skinsuit, opportunistically wrapped itself in the American flag, but it is a fundamentally anti-American, anti-civilizational force that will do anything to grub its way toward power. [image…
@mikulaja Jason Mikula on x
It's crazy how quickly some crypto libertarians turned into crypto fascists in an effort to keep making number go up
@jacquesthibs Jacques on x
This man is delusional. Imagine working for a guy like this, just completely outside of reality.
@dvassallo Daniel Vassallo on x
Claude is so good the white house is throwing a tantrum instead of just switching to a competitor.
@natolambert Nathan Lambert on x
[image]
@andrewmgrossman Andrew M. Grossman on x
Claude, on how it feels to be designated a supply chain risk: [image]
@deedydas Deedy on x
Claude just jumped to #2 on the iOS App Store!! Up from #129 one month ago. [image]
@dagrtnpwrflmrfixit @dagrtnpwrflmrfixit on bluesky
A strong sign of hope for our future, from a most unexpected source.
@dearsarah Sarah Szalavitz on bluesky
Silicon Valley Rallies Behind Anthropic in AI Clash With Trump — Actions by the president and the Pentagon appeared to drive a wedge between DC & the tech industry, whose leaders & workers spoke out for the start-up. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/t... Hope @robbonta.bsky.social fi…
r/AmericanTechWorkers r on reddit
This is what happens when the TECH workforce is full of H1-Bs
@kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x
Defense official to Axios a few days ago, on Anthropic: “The only reason we're still talking to these people is we need them and we need them now. The problem for these guys is they are that good.”
r/StockMarket r on reddit
Trump Will End Government Use of Anthropic's AI Models
@ilyasut Ilya Sutskever on x
It's extremely good that Anthropic has not backed down, and it's siginficant that OpenAI has taken a similar stance. In the future, there will be much more challenging situations of this nature, and it will be critical for the relevant leaders to rise up to the occasion, for fie…
@adamscochran Adam Cochran on x
A lot of people think OpenAI had the same red lines as Anthropic. Maybe they did and it's just a case of Trump bribery. But I don't think they did. I think they are tricking a lot of people with classic Valley doublespeak that you see lots of VCs use:
@eggerdc Andrew Egger on x
Anybody on here—and there are a lot of them—pretending there is zero difference between the government tearing up its Anthropic contract and the government trying to make it so Anthropic can't do business with ANYONE is either a gigantic mark or thinks you are.
@alpha_co @alpha_co on x
Anthropic is the first company i've seen with real aura Standing 10 toes on their beliefs and morals I can't think of a business in the last 100 years comes close Kudos Dario Amodei and team
@ericbahn Eric Bahn on x
Prediction: @AnthropicAI may have lost the US government as a client, but will gain even more collectively-lucrative government contracts outside of the US.
@pfau David Pfau on x
All I'll say about the Anthropic/DoD situation is that it is just so characteristic of the Trump administration to go completely nuclear over someone giving you only 99% of what you want.
r/cybersecurity r on reddit
The US government seems to want to use AI for civilian surveillance and autonomous weapons.
@r0ck3t23 Dustin on x
Dario Amodei just gave his first interview since the Pentagon blacklisted his company. The toll is visible on his face. He was asked one question. What would you say to the President right now? He didn't hesitate. Amodei: “We are patriotic Americans. Everything we have done [vide…
@doctoralex DR Alex Concorde on bluesky
OpenAI has reached an agreement with the Pentagon to provide its AI Tech for classified systems, just hours after Trump ordered federal agencies to stop using A.I. technology made by rival Anthropic who LOOKED TO SAFEGUARD the world & US Forces - knowing AI is still too unreliabl…
@stevetally Steve Tally on bluesky
And Dario Amodei is correct. This administration wants to use AI to sidestep Constitutional rights. [embedded post]
@jerusalemdemsas @jerusalemdemsas on x
Sorry so the line is that Anthropic is a supply chain risk AND ALSO they are required to continue servicing the Pentagon for the next six months??
@hamandcheese Samuel Hammond on x
Sure seems like Elon gave Hegseth anti-Anthropic brainworms to try to take out his competitor, coincident with Grok winning approval on confidential servers.
@pjux Siri Srinivas on x
My armchair analysis on how this played out: someone in or close to govt (or OAI/xAI) thought it would be fun anti-woke theater to pull up Anthropic and make them squirm/walk back. Anthropic leaked news of meeting. Slow played it the entire week and called the Pentagon's bluff
@robbysoave Robby Soave on x
All Anthropic said was they won't make autonomous killbots and do mass surveillance of American citizens. Why is that a problem, Pete?
@rhyssullivan Rhys on x
the US governments strategy if a ballistic missile is launched at us is they're gonna ask Claude what to do?
@rabadash2 @rabadash2 on x
Imagine I sold the government a toaster and they said I had to make it a nuke or they would blacklist every resteraunt from ever working with me
@nickmmark Nick Mark MD on x
Huge win for Anthropic. They lose a $200m contract (1.4% of their total revenue) and win tens of billions in market share.
@emeriticus Pedro L. Gonzalez on x
Palmer Luckey is sniping at Anthropic because Anthropic won't allow the Pentagon to use its tech to conduct mass surveillance on American citizens and killings with zero human input. However much you hate tech right grifters, it is not nearly enough. Remember that Palmer's [image…
@123skely @123skely on x
Ok, what kind of American Ai company are you? [image]
@rvawonk Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D on x
Wow. Former Trump White House Senior AI Policy Advisor Dean Ball calls the Trump administration's move to declare Anthropic a supply chain risk “the most damaging policy move I have ever seen USG try to take.”
@varunram Varunram Ganesh on x
Many of my extremely talented eng friends who could've easily started a company went on to work at Anthropic and when asked why they'd always say “Dario is such a good CEO”. I didn't get it then but I see it now
@kylesgibson Kyle S. Gibson on x
What kind of idiot government would only contract with one software provider? They can go to someone else for their mass surveillance and murder bots
@mert @mert on x
kinda wild that the department of war and the biggest ai lab are fighting about national security on, *checks notes*, twitter, and we've just accepted that as a normal thing this app is crazy
@joshkale Josh Kale on x
Anthropic: “We'll work with the military on everything except autonomous killer robots and mass surveillance of Americans.” The Pentagon: “We don't plan to do those things.” Anthropic: “Great, put it in writing.” The Pentagon: “No.” Trump: “BAN THEM FROM THE ENTIRE
@vraserx @vraserx on x
This is how you win. Claude jumping from #129 to #2 while holding the line on safety and rights says everything. People are choosing competence and principles. If the AI race is about who we trust with the future, Anthropic is making the strongest case right now. [image]
@_coenen Andy Coenen on x
Imagine if the government tried to force Apple to add NSA backdoors to all of their devices by threatening to make it illegal for anyone doing business with the government to use macs.
@gundo_og Nathan Mintz on x
Every defense contractor come Monday..: [image]
@evanhub Evan Hubinger on x
Branding an American company a supply chain risk because they refuse to accede to mass surveillance of American citizens is a very dark path. It is all of our obligation to stand against that. Anthropic takes that obligation seriously. I hope others will too.
@sethbannon Seth Bannon on x
When can we go back to having adults in charge instead of name calling children?
@hpierrejacques Henri Pierre-Jacques on x
I think Anthropic wins more from this. This was their Apple security moment. Enterprises will now see Anthropic as more secure even if that isn't true at some point. $200M lost contract feels worth that security brand
@leakerapple @leakerapple on x
Imagine Apple sold iPhones to the DoD under a contract that specified they would be used by military personnel for war fighting communication, but were actually used as IEDs in the battlefield. It would be reasonable for Apple to pull out of the deal as it was a breach of the
@sporadica @sporadica on x
Can this finally be the point at which the “Tech Right” realizes they have committed themselves and their undying allegiance to total retards? Please?
@petereharrell Peter Harrell on x
I actually think as a legal matter Hegseth has substantially overstated the legal implications of the supply chain risk designation, which applies only to use of Anthropic products in DoD contracts. I take the broader point that this may be capturing the intent, however.
@benjamindekr Benjamin De Kraker on x
What if Claude 5 is advising Dario and has already Anticipated All Possible Scenarios
@gailcweiner Gail Weiner on x
So let me get this straight. The President announced the punishment before the deadline. Hegseth tweeted the supply chain designation thirteen minutes after the 5:01 deadline. And nobody from the DoW actually communicated directly with Anthropic. They learned about it from
@rlancemartin Lance Martin on x
My dad served 20 years in the Navy as a fighter pilot with 140 combat missions. So, I've always had deep respect for our armed forces. But, I'm disappointed these recent events and very proud to work at Anthropic. https://x.com/...
@adam__xyz Adam Del on x
did i get it right [image]
@robbysoave Robby Soave on x
If you think tech companies should have pushed back harder when the Biden administration made them censor information... shouldn't you applaud them having a backbone on this use of AI issue?
@ginotheghost @ginotheghost on x
The US Government just imposed China-level sanctions on an American company because it refused to participate in assisting mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. Another mask-off moment for fascism that MAGA will twist themselves into a pretzel trying to defend.
@ginotheghost @ginotheghost on x
Idk guys I'm starting to think that when Trump says he wants to take over elections, monopolize media, control the free market, impose mass surveillance, and punish all who oppose him, maybe we should believe him
@tetraspacewest @tetraspacewest on x
remember kids if you ever sign a contract with the DoD they will break that contract and then start talking like Sephiroth
@0xg00gly @0xg00gly on x
Anthropic is a good Rorschach test. The free market crowd is suddenly very comfortable with the state dictating their terms to private firms and expanding mass surveyance. Turns out most “capitalists” are commies when their side runs the Leviathan.
@jacquesthibs Jacques on x
Will we get an increase in signatories now that the DoW has taken action on their threats? Or will this blow over while the other labs silently comply through legalese and white lies? This does not have to be over. [image]
@mattyglesias Matthew Yglesias on x
I mean if the Pentagon signed a contract with Apple to buy iPads and then decided retroactively that it didn't like the terms of the contract and so it was going to try to do everything in its power to destroy Apple as a company, that would be pretty bad.
@shlevy Shea Levy on x
Anthropic is not a supply chain risk and no one believes that you think it's a supply chain risk. You're destroying the company because you don't like that they stood their ground. Own it.
@inflammateomnia @inflammateomnia on x
It's honestly so cool of hegseth to polarize the development of AI. Before this it was all nebulous “alignment” “what if” “coherent extrapolated volition” nerd shit Now you can just point and be like yeah no I'm against the murderbots
@eggerdc Andrew Egger on x
The amount of obvious, ridiculous lying the DoD is uncorking on Anthropic right now over a Terms of Use squabble is really something to watch. An actual temper tantrum from the people atop the most powerful military in the world.
@jack_raines Jack Raines on x
This is so, so, unbelievably stupid.
@_nathancalvin Nathan Calvin on x
what if they sold those computers under an acceptable use agreement, and then DOW disagreed about those terms later on, and instead of just cancelling the contract labeled them a supply chain risk and forbid Amazon et al from using Apple computers?
@bealeydier @bealeydier on x
Famously Apple never refused to accede to any technological request of the federal government. [image]
@airkatakana @airkatakana on x
if anthropic is saying “you can use our models for anything other than domestic spying or autonomous weapons” and the pentagon replies “we will use other models then” we need to take a very, very hard look at what those other model providers are doing
@brizzyc Carrie Brown on bluesky
“In all of our interactions, the DoW displayed a deep respect for safety and a desire to partner to achieve the best possible outcome” LOL Sam Altman we do not take you seriously. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/t...
@ykomska Yuliya Komska on bluesky
This will make you miss the Cold War military-industrial complex. “The company is not yet approved for classified work in part bc its technologies are not available from Amazon's cloud computing services, which is how the government often accesses classified systems.” www.nytime…
@zaydante Zay Dante on x
do you know how insane you have to be for an AI company to be like “aight yall trippin”
@adamscochran Adam Cochran on x
A lot of proud folks at Anthropic today. Haven't seen a lot of OpenAI team members posting about that same pride... Maybe they should take a look at Anthropic's hiring page instead of building spying & war-models! 🤷‍♂️
@tedsumers Ted Sumers on x
Sad that this is the world we live in, but proud to be part of this company. Developing AI is playing with fire. Let's do it transparently, in accordance with democratic values, and make sure everyone benfits.
@nickevanjoseph Nicholas Joseph on x
I believe AI will be the most consequential technology in human history, and that we bear a deep moral responsibility for what we build. I've been at Anthropic since its founding, so I've watched for years how this company handles hard decisions. Throughout that time, I've
@kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x
I'd be stunned if Anthropic is actually phased out at federal agencies. There's a six month deadline. We've seen those before.
@throughthecanon @throughthecanon on bluesky
Pentagon blacklists Anthropic, labels AI company “supply chain risk” — WHY? — Anthropic doesn't want domestic mass surveillance of American citizens. — and — AI being used to power fully autonomous weapon systems that can make lethal decisions without human intervention …
@scribblegurl @scribblegurl on bluesky
Well, fuck. — Anthropic: You may not use Claude to kill people (or for mass surveillance). — US Govt: Anthropic is an enemy of the people and must be destroyed. — www.washingtonpost.com/technology/ 2...
@Dhmspector@mastodon.social Dave Spector on mastodon
Once more for the people in the back.... “The National Security Agency's capability at any time could be turned around on the American people, and no American would have any privacy left, such is the capability to monitor everything: telephone conversations, telegrams, it doesn'…
@chet95 @chet95 on bluesky
www.wired.com/story/anthro... “We have essentially just sanctioned an American company. If you are an American, you should be thinking about whether or not you should live here 10 years from now.” ... If Not Sooner Than 10 Years ...
r/technology r on reddit
We Will Not Be Divided
@alanrozenshtein.com Alan Rozenshtein on bluesky
The bigger context of the Anthropic-Pentagon fight is that it's the opening chapter in what will be a multi-year fight over to what extent American AI is nationalized. www.politico.com/news/2026/02... [image]
@kenbazinet Ken Bazinet on bluesky
“Is the Trump administration punishing Anthropic because it's refusing to help mass surveil American communities or build killer robots?” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) posted, Politico reported. — “The American people deserve to know what Trump officials are planning at the …
@fightingliberal @fightingliberal on bluesky
‘Attempted corporate murder’: Trump's threats against Anthropic chill AI industry ...
@mattietimmer Mattie Timmer on x
What Anthropic did is what every law firm and university threatened by Trump should have done. The consequences of standing against bullying and tyranny are real, but integrity and courage in the face of personal cost is worth more.
@akaminara Androulla Kaminara on x
These are very important developments - the developers of AI systems have a responsibility to ensure that their use is within democratic norms.
@chris_j_paxton Chris Paxton on x
I've honestly never had a high opinion of Anthropic before - I've always thought Claude was overrated; that their crusade against open-source and Chinese models was a poorly motivated attempt at regulatory capture. But I think I've come around to believing that these folks
@aisafetymemes @aisafetymemes on x
Amodei: “Disagreeing with the government is the most American thing in the world.” “When we were threatened with ... unprecedented intrusions into the private economy, we exercised our classic First Amendment rights to speak up and disagree with the government.” 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
@rohanpaul_ai Rohan Paul on x
Dario Amodei's new interview: He was asked “If you were in the room with the President right now, what would you say to him?” He says “Disagreeing with the government is the most American thing in the world.” He looks visibly strained. [video]
@ohabryka Oliver Habryka on x
Anthropic is obviously in the right in their conflict with the USG. As far as I can tell they have acted with integrity, and I support them in standing their ground. I am also worried this will create a set of martyr and prosecution beliefs at Anthropic. Just because you have
@catchersalazar Catcher Salazar on x
Real Americans still exist in SF
@dc_lawrence David Lawrence on x
The time has come! Britain is open! [image]
@linusekenstam @linusekenstam on x
Dario playing 12D chess. Anthropic has already steadily accelerated its international growth. DoD is effectively helping them accelerate their efforts to grow internationally. While also pissing off both sides of the aisle at home. Anthropic knows world is open for business [imag…
@dbcurren Don Curren on bluesky
“Because the #technology is advancing so quickly, we're having these debates now. #A.I. has moved from being in a niche conversation to something really at the center of #global #power.” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/t...
@hankgreen Hank Green on x
The party of small* government. *a few guys who have absolute authority to make you do exactly what they want or they will destroy you

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directs the DOD to designate Anthropic as a supply chain risk, barring military contractors from doing business with the company

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