Pentagon Considers Designating Anthropic AI as a ‘Supply Chain Risk’: Report

Gizmodo · Feb 17, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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Tensions appear to be escalating between the Pentagon and Anthropic, the only company trying to hold on to a public image that it wants to make safe and ethical AI systems. Axios reported Monday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is considering not only severing the Department of Defense’s business ties with Anthropic but also designating the AI firm as a supply chain risk. According to an unnamed senior Pentagon official, such a designation would force any contractor seeking to work with the U.S. military to cut ties with Anthropic, creating a much larger financial problem for the startup. “It will be an enormous pain in the ass to disentangle, and we are going to make sure they pay a price for forcing our hand like this,” the official told Axios. The dispute appears to stem from Anthropic’s reluctance to allow unrestricted military use of its AI systems. Currently, Anthropic’s models are the only AI tools available inside classified military systems through third-party providers, such as Palantir Technologies, and even then, they come with some restrictions. Reuters previously reported that Anthropic executives have told military officials they do not want their systems used for autonomous weapons targeting or domestic surveillance. The Pentagon has also been pressing other AI companies, including Google, OpenAI, and xAI, to permit the use of their models for “all lawful uses.” At the moment, it’s unclear if those Last week, OpenAI announced that it made a customized version of ChatGPT available through the department’s enterprise AI platform, GenAI.mil. The system, launched in December, is used by roughly 3 million civilian and military personnel and already includes tailored versions of tools from xAI and Google’s Gemini. Anthropic’s Claude has not been added to the platform. A Pentagon source previously told Axios that Anthropic is the most “ideological” of the AI companies it is working with. The tensions mark a sharp shift from last summer, when Anthropic celebrated a deal worth up to $200 million with the Department of Defense. At the time, the company said the award opened “a new chapter in Anthropic’s commitment to supporting U.S. national security.” More recently, however, CEO Dario Amodei has warned about the risks surrounding military and government uses of AI. “We need, in some ways, to be protected against A.I. and someone needs to hold the button on the swarm of drones, which is something I’m very concerned about, and that oversight doesn’t exist today,” Amodei said during an appearance last week on the New York Times podcast Interesting Times with Ross Douthat. Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “The Department of War’s relationship with Anthropic is being reviewed. Our nation requires that our partners be willing to help our warfighters win in any fight,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell told Gizmodo in an emailed statement. “Ultimately, this is about our troops and the safety of the American people.”