The U.S. Department of Defense on Thursday escalated its ongoing dispute with Anthropic, publicly threatening to effectively ban the artificial intelligence startup from the U.S. military's vast supply chain. Department of Defense spokesman Sean Parnell issued a warning on social media, stating that Anthropic must allow the Pentagon unrestricted use of its Claude Gov artificial intelligence tool by 5:01 pm ET on Friday. The company had previously insisted on some safety measures.
"This is a simple, common-sense requirement that will prevent Anthropic from jeopardizing critical military operations and potentially putting our warfighters at risk," Parnell wrote. A senior Pentagon official confirmed Thursday that the Defense Department sent a final proposal to Anthropic on Wednesday.
According to people familiar with the matter, Anthropic asked the U.S. in discussions with the Pentagon not to use its products to develop weapons that can autonomously target enemy combatants or conduct large-scale surveillance of U.S. citizens.
The Pentagon requested that Claude be used without Anthropic restrictions. The Defense Department also threatened to invoke the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to force use of Anthropic's software.
Parnell's post on the X platform on Thursday was the Department of Defense's first public statement outlining the potential consequences.
Parnell wrote that the Pentagon has no intention of conducting mass surveillance or developing "autonomous weapons that can operate without human involvement."
"We will not let any company dictate the terms of how we make operational decisions," he also said. "They have until 5:01 p.m. ET on Friday to make a decision. Otherwise, we will terminate our partnership with Anthropic and treat it as a supply chain risk."