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.

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

The clash between Dario Amodei-led Anthropic and the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth-led Department of War has escalated, with the AI startup saying

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

Pete Hegseth gave Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei until Friday to grant the Pentagon unrestricted access to Claude or face losing its defence contract and a government blacklist designation.

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 Valley.

The Department of Defense gave the AI company a deadline of Friday to allow the Pentagon to use its AI as it sees fit or face steep penalties.