The company said the new contract made virtually no progress on preventing its AI tech's "use for mass surveillance of Americans or in fully autonomous weapons"

Until this week, Anthropic was the only AI company cleared to deploy its models on classified networks. Elon Musk's xAI is now the second.

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

Anthropic issued a statement earlier today stating that the company will not allow its AI platform to be used for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weaponry by the United States government. Employees from both Google and OpenAI have joined in this call for AI red lines.

Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said Thursday that the DoD has “no interest” in using Anthropic’s models for fully autonomous weapons or to conduct mass surveillance of Americans, which he noted is illegal. He emphasized that the agency wants the company to agree to allow its models to be used for “all lawful purposes.”

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 US government is putting pressure on AI company Anthropic over military use of its technology. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has given a deadline for the company to allow its AI to be used in legal defense work.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave Anthropic until Friday at 5 p.m. to grant the military unresticted use of its AI technology.