The US Department of Defense – Pentagon has demanded that Anthropic remove restrictions on its artificial intelligence model by the evening of February 27. This was reported by Axios, citing sources.
According to the report, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gave the company's management an ultimatum, stating that if the requirements are not met, the Defense Production Act of 1950 may be invoked. This law gives the federal government the authority to directly intervene in the distribution of products and services of private companies. As an alternative pressure mechanism, a complete cessation of cooperation is also being considered.
The minister voiced these conditions on February 24 during a meeting with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.
The company stated that it was ready to make certain adjustments to the rules for using its products for military needs. However, it emphasized that it was against the use of Anthropic technologies for mass surveillance of US citizens.
One of the main conditions for the company is to preserve the ban on the use of artificial intelligence in autonomous weapons systems. These are systems that can fire without the direct permission of a human operator.
The US Department of Defense, in turn, requires the right to use these technologies for “lawful purposes.” The agency includes in this category the conduct of combat operations and the collection of intelligence.
