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

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave Anthropic an ultimatum this week: Open its artificial intelligence technology for unrestricted military use by Friday, or risk losing its government contract.

As well as designating Anthropic as a supply chain risk, the government could also cancel its contract or invoke a Cold War-era law called the Defense Production Act to give the military more sweeping authority to use its products, even if the company doesn’t approve.

The Pentagon is threatening to use the Defense Production Act (DPA) against Anthropic amid a dispute over the company’s restrictions on its AI tools, in a move that many experts say is an unusual use

CEO Dario Amodei’s statement came less than 24 hours before the deadline in the Pentagon’s ultimatum. Less than 24 hours before the deadline in an ultimatum issued by the Pentagon, Anthropic has refused the Department of Defense’s demands for unrestricted access to its AI.

The Pentagon was already reportedly unhappy with Anthropic’s insistence on its red lines, and the company has not been included so far on the GenAI.mil platform the department built out in late 2025. At a speech in January, Hegseth pointedly said that “we will not employ AI models that won’t allow you to fight wars.”

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang weighed in on a conflict between the Defense Department and its strategic partner on Thursday, saying it's “not the end of the world.”

The Pentagon has reiterated its commitment to using Anthropic's AI technology only for legal purposes, amid contract negotiations and a looming deadline for compliance.