President Trump has directed federal agencies to cease using all products from the artificial intelligence company Anthropic. The order came in a post on Truth Social following a public dispute between the company and the Department of Defense. Agencies have been given a six-month phase-out period, but the President made clear that Anthropic is no longer welcome as a federal contractor. “We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again,” he wrote.
Notably, the President’s initial post did not mention plans to designate Anthropic as a supply chain risk, a consequence that had been previously suggested. However, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth followed through on that threat in a subsequent statement. “In conjunction with the President’s directive for the Federal Government to cease all use of Anthropic’s technology, I am directing the Department of War to designate Anthropic a Supply-Chain Risk to National Security,” Hegseth wrote. “Effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic.”
The dispute originated from Anthropic’s refusal to allow its AI models to be used for mass domestic surveillance or to power fully autonomous weapons. Secretary Hegseth found these restrictions unduly restrictive for military applications.
Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, reiterated the company’s stance in a public post. He refused to compromise on the two safeguards. “Our strong preference is to continue to serve the Department and our warfighters — with our two requested safeguards in place,” Amodei wrote. “Should the Department choose to offboard Anthropic, we will work to enable a smooth transition to another provider, avoiding any disruption to ongoing military planning, operations, or other critical missions.”