Pentagon stand-off with tech firm reaches key moment as admin considers 'nuclear option'

The Pentagon has found itself at odds with a technology firm refusing to give way to demands from Donald Trump's administration.

Pentagon heads made it clear to Anthropic, the artificial intelligence tech firm, that it would need the company to lower its safeguarding measures should it wish to have its tools used by government officials. The tech team has yet to give in to this demand, with chief executive Dario Amodei saying to do so would undermine the defense of the nation.

Department of Defense head Pete Hegseth urged the company to give in to government demands or find their AI no longer in use at the DoD. Amodei replied, "These threats do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience accede to their request.

"Should the Department choose to offboard Anthropic, we will work to enable a smooth transition to another provider."

If the Department of Defense chooses to move to a different supplier, it could be seen as a bold option for the department.

Michael C. Horowitz, a director at the University of Pennsylvania who oversaw AI weapons policy during the Biden administration, says the Pentagon is no longer trusting of Anthropic after the company resisted the DoD's demands.

Horowitz said, "The Pentagon does not trust that Anthropic will be a reliable vendor, and Anthropic worries about misuse of its technology."

Washington Post staffers Ian Duncan, Elizabeth Dwoskin, and Tara Copp suggested the Pentagon could act sooner rather than later should Anthropic fail to meet their demands.

They wrote, "Because Claude is already in use across the Defense Department, exiling Anthropic and switching to a rival could prove costly. Although Defense officials have suggested they could use the Defense Production Act to force the AI company to share its systems, experts are split on whether the law could be applied.

"Doing so would send a chilling message to the AI firms the Pentagon hopes to lean on that they may risk of having their own innovations seized if the government sees something it wants."

Katie Sweeten, a former liaison for the Justice Department to the Pentagon, has said the move would set a worrying standard and could be seen as a point of no return.

She said, "This is a literal nuclear option which I think rightfully companies should be very concerned about."