FEBRUARY 28, 2026
Donald Trump has ordered government agencies to stop using Anthropic’s technology immediately – Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images
Donald Trump has threatened to take criminal action against Anthropic after blacklisting the AI giant following a row over the use of its technology for autonomous weapons.
Pete Hegseth, the US president’s defence secretary, issued the ban late on Friday, designating the company “a supply chain risk”.
Mr. Trump ordered government agencies to immediately stop using Anthropic’s technology – including its powerful Claude AI bot – which had previously been cleared for classified use by the US military and was deployed during America’s raid to capture Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan president.
The ban will also force US government contractors to strip Anthropic from their own systems.
Writing on Truth Social, Mr Trump said: “We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again!
“Anthropic better get their act together, and be helpful during this phase out period, or I will use the Full Power of the Presidency to make them comply, with major civil and criminal consequences to follow.”
Anthropic, which is worth $380bn (£281bn), responded to the decision and said it would take legal action against the Trump administration.
“No amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War will change our position on mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons,” Anthropic said on Saturday.
“We will challenge any supply chain risk designation in court.”
Hegseth: ‘Anthropic’s selfishness is putting American lives at risk’
It comes after a bitter row between Dario Amodei, Anthropic’s chief executive, and the Pentagon, after he refused to end a prohibition on the company’s AI being used for lethal weapons or mass surveillance.
Mr Amodei and Mr Hegseth have been locked in talks for months after the Pentagon demanded the Silicon Valley lab make its technology available for “all lawful” use by the military.
Dario Amodei, the chief executive of Anthropic, has repeatedly described autonomous weapons as a ‘red line’ – Ruhani Kaur/Bloomberg
Previously, Anthropic had issued a series of “red lines” about its technology being used for fully autonomous killer robots or surveillance of Americans.
The AI lab long sought to champion AI safety and warned of the potential existential risks of the technology to humanity.
The Pentagon has insisted it has no intention of using its technology for these means and said such domestic surveillance would be unlawful.
It has argued that Anthropic’s rules could force it to check with the company before deploying its AI to tackle imminent threats to troops, such as drones or hypersonic missile strikes.
Mr Hegseth claimed on Friday that Anthropic was run by “Left-wing nut jobs” and said “their selfishness is putting American lives at risk”.
He demanded all federal agencies immediately stop using Anthropic’s technology, while phasing its use out at the department of defense during the next six months.
The defence secretary also accused the company of a “master class in arrogance and betrayal” and a “cowardly act of corporate virtue-signalling that places Silicon Valley ideology above American lives”.
Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, has previous claimed that Anthropic was run by ‘Left-wing nut jobs’ – Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP via Getty Images
Anthropic said: “Designating Anthropic as a supply chain risk would be an unprecedented action – one historically reserved for US adversaries, never before publicly applied to an American company.
“Anthropic has supported American warfighters since June 2024 and has every intention of continuing to do so.
“We believe this designation would both be legally unsound and set a dangerous precedent for any American company that negotiates with the government.”
Despite the collapse of talks with Anthropic, its rival OpenAI said it had reached a deal with the Pentagon for its technology to be used on its classified networks.
Sam Altman, the OpenAI chief, said the US government had “put into our agreement” a principle barring AI’s use on autonomous weaponry and mass domestic spying.
Mr. Altman said he had asked for “de-escalation” of the row between Anthropic and the government and said the terms should be offered to all AI labs.
Hundreds of staff at OpenAI and Google have demanded that their leaders back Anthropic and refuse to allow their AI tools to be used in killer robots, threatening to herald a new wave of protest by Silicon Valley workers amid fears over AI’s military uses.
Elon Musk’s xAI also reached its own agreement this week its own agreement to use its controversial Grok chatbot on the Pentagon’s classified networks.
Courtesy/Source: The Telegraph
