Trump orders U.S. government to stop using Anthropic but gives Pentagon six months to phase it out amid standoff over AI use

President Donald Trump said Friday he will shut out Anthropic from the federal government after the AI company refused to compromise on how its technology could be used by the U.S. military.

But he is also giving the Pentagon a six-month period to phaseout Anthropic’s technology as it is one of the few AI companies allowed to operate in classified settings.

In a Truth Social post, Trump called Anthropic “woke” and “leftwing,” claiming it is endangering troops and jeopardizing national security by not acceding to the Defense Department’s demands. 

“Therefore, I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology,” he wrote. “We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again! There will be a Six Month phase out period for Agencies like the Department of War who are using Anthropic’s products, at various levels.”

Trump added that if Anthropic doesn’t obey, he will use “the Full Power of the Presidency to make them comply.”

The San Francisco startup had refused to let users deploy its Claude models for mass domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons, while the Defense Department demanded the right to use the technology in all lawful cases.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened to revoke Anthropic’s $200 million contract with the U.S. military canceled or face being labeled “a supply-chain risk.” The latter would prevent companies that do business with the Pentagon from using Anthropic’s technology, elevating the AI firm to a threat normally associated with foreign adversaries such as China and Russia.

Hegseth also raised the possibility of invoking the Defense Production Act to force Anthropic to hand over an unrestricted version of Claude on national security grounds. 

“These threats do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience accede to their request,” CEO Dario Amodei said in a letter Thursday. 

Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s undersecretary for research and engineering, called Amodei “a liar” with a “God-complex” in response, accusing the CEO of wanting “to personally control the U.S Military” in posts on X. 

The Defense Department has publicly stated it has no intention of conducting mass surveillance or removing humans from weapons targeting decisions, but the dispute could rest on how either side is defining “autonomous” or “surveillance” in practice.

Anthropic was the only AI company cleared for use in classified settings—until Elon Musk’s xAI agreed to let the Pentagon use its AI in lawful situations. Google and OpenAI are used in unclassified settings but are in talks with the Defense Department about classified work.

But the Pentagon is facing a revolt from Silicon Valley, even as defense officials try to lessen their dependence on Anthropic.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told his employees in a memo on Thursday, that the company would push for the same limitations on autonomous weapons and mass surveillance that Anthropic has, according to Axios.

Also on Thursday, more than 100 workers at Google sent a letter to Jeff Dean, the company’s chief scientist, also asking for similar limits on how the company’s Gemini AI models are used by the U.S. military, according to the New York Times.

Jason Ma is the weekend editor at Fortune, where he covers markets, the economy, finance, and housing.

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