Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has reportedly warned Anthropic that it could be removed from the Pentagon's supply chain if the company does not commit by Friday to allowing its technology to be used in all lawful military applications.

Anthropic, the AI company behind Claude, has refused Pentagon contract terms pushed by US defence secretary Pete Hegseth that would allow unrestricted military use of its AI. The company insists on explicit bans on mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous lethal weapons,

Tech lawyers and AI policymakers warn that the Pentagon’s plans to compel Anthropic to abandon its ethical red lines are contradictory and could chill partnerships between the government and Silicon

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the company that owns the AI assistant Claude would be punished unless it drops all ethical guidelines.

The Pentagon may decide to officially designate Anthropic as a "supply chain risk" to push them out of government, sources say.

AI safety and research company Anthropic has told the Pentagon it will not agree to their demands to drop critical safety precautions and grant the U.S. military full access to their AI capabilities.

Defense chief Pete Hegseth has threatened to force the company to lift guardrails against greater military use of AI.