U.S. Central Command reportedly employed Anthropic's AI platform, Claude, for intelligence assessments, target identification, and battle simulations during recent strikes in Iran. This occurred hours after President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to begin a six-month phase-out of Anthropic products.
The directive followed a breakdown in negotiations between Anthropic and the Pentagon over the use of commercially developed AI systems. Experts caution that embedding AI models within classified defense pipelines makes rapid replacement complex and costly, with a significant lag in operational changes.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei had previously stated the company would not remove safeguards against mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons, a stance that led to the Pentagon designating Anthropic a "supply-chain risk to national security."
In the wake of this dispute, OpenAI announced a deal with the Pentagon for deploying advanced AI systems in classified environments, claiming to include similar safeguards. OpenAI's CEO expressed concern over the precedent set by the Pentagon's actions towards Anthropic.