Anthropic CEO apologizes for leaked memo calling OpenAI staff ‘gullible’ as company confirms supply chain risk designation

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has confirmed that the company has officially received a supply chain risk (SCR) designation from the Department of War. Amodei also walked back a leaked internal memo in which he called OpenAI staff “gullible” and its supporters “Twitter morons.”

Anthropic’s confirmation that it has been formally notified of the supply chain risk designation came after a week of uncertainty following a breakdown in contract negotiations between the company and the Pentagon.

Amodei sought to clarify, though, that the scope of the designation was narrower than Secretary of War Pete Hegseth claimed when he first announced the decision last Friday. Hegseth had said that the designation would require all U.S. military contractors to sever all commercial ties to Anthropic. But Amodei said the relevant statute, 10 USC 3252, applies only to direct use of Claude within specific Department of War contracts rather than all use of Claude by companies that happen to hold such contracts. Under the law, the Secretary of War is also required to use the least restrictive means necessary, limiting how broadly the designation can be applied. Anthropic has said it will sue to challenge the designation, and several legal experts have already publicly questioned if the Pentagon’s ruling is legally sound.In his blog, Amodei also said that Anthropic “had been having productive conversations with the........

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