The Pentagon wants Anthropic to remove limits on AI use for autonomous weapons and mass surveillance, raising civil liberties concerns.
Pete Hegseth has threatened to invoke the Defense Production Act to force Anthropic to come around.
Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 2.25.2026 1:00 PM
The U.S. Department of Defense is in a standoff with artificial intelligence developer Anthropic over the company's refusal to let the government use its products for autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of U.S. citizens.
The feud presents a frightening picture of the government's agenda when it comes to AI technology—and the lengths to which it's willing to go, or at least threaten to go, in order to access AI tools without any safeguards. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said yesterday that the Trump administration might even invoke the Defense Production Act to force Anthropic to let the military use its products how the Pentagon sees fit.
