The Pentagon previously requested Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and xAI allow the use of their AI models for “all lawful purposes,” to which Anthropic put up the most resistance over fears its AI models could be used for autonomous weapons systems and mass domestic surveillance.

Company refuses to remove safeguards from its AI model over concerns about surveillance, autonomous weapons - Anadolu Ajansı

The decision comes ahead of a Friday deadline to reach an agreement or face tough government measures.

The AI giant, which was last valued at $380 billion after a $30 billion fundraise earlier this year, said it would not accede to the Pentagon's request to eliminate safeguards from its AI systems, despite threats to deem the company a "supply chain risk" and remove it from the Department of Defense's systems,

Anthropic said Thursday that “virtually no progress” had been made in the company’s talks with the Pentagon over the terms of use for its AI models ahead of a Friday afternoon deadline. The

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said on Thursday the company "cannot in good conscience accede" to the military's terms over the use of Claude.

Debates have long swirled around AI and its use in weapons targeting, the idea of no human involvement still an uncomfortable one.

The company's Claude chatbot is one of the few AI systems cleared for use in classified settings. But a standoff between Anthropic and the Trump administration is putting its government work at risk.