President Donald Trump announced Friday that he will order all U.S. government agencies to “immediately cease” their use of technology from artificial intelligence company Anthropic.
In a post on Truth Social, President Trump said there would be a six-month phase-out for government agencies such as the Department of Defense that “use Anthropic’s products at various levels.”
Shortly after President Trump’s order, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told X that he would order the Pentagon to “designate Anthropic as a supply chain risk to national security” after the AI startup refused to comply with requirements regarding the use of its technology.
Anthropic said in a statement late Friday that it was “deeply saddened by this development.” The company said it would challenge the supply chain risk designation in court.
“We believe this designation is legally unsound and sets a dangerous precedent for U.S. companies negotiating with the government,” Anthropic said.
Anthropic, which signed a $200 million contract with the Department of Defense in July, wanted assurances that its AI models would not be used for fully autonomous weapons or mass surveillance of American citizens domestically.
The Pentagon, which strongly resisted the request, set a deadline of 5:01 p.m. ET on Friday for Anthropic to agree to the request to allow the U.S. military to use the technology for all lawful purposes.
That deadline passed without an agreement.
“Antropic’s position is fundamentally inconsistent with American principles,” Hegseth said in a statement regarding X.
“Thus, our relationship with the U.S. military and the federal government has been forever changed.”
“Antropic will continue to provide service to the Department of the Army for a period of no more than six months to enable a seamless transition to a better, more patriotic service,” the Secretary of Defense said. “America’s warfighters will never be held hostage to the ideological whims of Big Tech. This decision is final.”
“The left-wing lunatics at Anthropic made a disastrous mistake in trying to strengthen the Department of the Army and force it to follow the Terms of Service instead of the Constitution,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social.
“Their self-interest is endangering American lives, endangering our military, and endangering our national security.”
“Therefore, I am directing all federal agencies of the United States Government to immediately cease using Anthropic’s technology,” President Trump wrote.
“I don’t need it, I don’t need it, I won’t do business with you again!”
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia), vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, condemned President Trump’s actions.
“The president’s directive to suspend the use of major U.S. AI companies across the federal government, combined with inflammatory rhetoric attacking the companies, raises serious concerns about whether national security decisions are made with careful analysis or political considerations,” Warner said in a statement.
“Efforts by President Trump and Secretary Hegseth to intimidate and marginalize America’s leading companies, which may provide an excuse to steer contracts to preferred vendors for models that many federal agencies have already identified as reliability, safety, and security threats, pose significant risks to America’s defense preparedness and the willingness of the U.S. private sector and academia to work with the IC and the Department of Defense based on their own values and legal ethics,” Warner said. he said.
Billionaire Elon Musk, who was President Trump’s biggest financial supporter in the 2024 election, owns xAI, which aims to compete directly with Anthropic and OpenAI, another major AI company.
Musk has repeatedly bashed Anthropic on his social network X in recent weeks, writing on Friday that the company “hates Western civilization.”
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said Thursday that the company “cannot in good conscience” allow the Pentagon to use its models without restriction.
“It is the (Defense) Department’s prerogative to choose the contractor that best aligns with its vision, but given the tremendous value that Anthropic’s technology brings to our military, we beg you to reconsider,” Amodei said in a statement Thursday.
“Our strong desire is to continue to serve the Department of Defense and our warfighters with the two safeguards we have requested,” Amodei said.
“If the Department chooses to offboard Anthropic, we will work to enable a smooth transition to another provider while avoiding disruption to ongoing military programs, operations, or other critical missions. Our model will be available on the broad terms we have proposed for as long as necessary.”
Dario Amodei, co-founder and CEO of Anthropic, speaks at the 56th World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 20, 2026.
Dennis Bariboos | Reuters
On Friday, OpenAI, another major AI company, said it has similar “red lines” to Anthropic when it comes to the use of its technology by the Department of Defense and other customers.
“We have long believed that AI should not be used for mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons, and that humans should remain in the loop of high-stakes automated decision-making,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a memo obtained by CNBC.
OpenAI signed its own $200 million contract with the Department of Defense last year.
OpenAI’s contract targets AI models in non-classified use cases, such as routine office tasks.
Anthropic’s contract with the Department of Defense included classified work.
The Pentagon had no comment Friday other than to refer to President Trump’s announcement.
In a post to X, Hegseth posted a screenshot of Trump’s post and CC:ed a message to Anthropic and Amodei: “Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention.”
—CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this article
