Anthropic digs in heels in dispute with Pentagon

Anthropic digs in heels in dispute with Pentagon

Anthropic refused to remove safeguards that would prevent its technology from being used to target weapons autonomously and conduct U.S. domestic surveillance

Artificial intelligence lab Anthropic has no intention of easing its usage restrictions for military purposes, a person familiar with the matter has said.

The meeting between Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was scheduled to iron out a month-long dispute.

During the meeting, Hegseth delivered an ultimatum to Anthropic: get on board or the government will take drastic action. The options included labelling Anthropic as a supply-chain risk or having the Pentagon invoke the Defence Production Act that would force Anthropic to change its rules.

The government gave Anthropic until Friday at 5 p.m. to respond, according to a senior Pentagon official with knowledge of the matter.

However, Anthropic refused to remove safeguards that would prevent its technology from being used to target weapons autonomously and conduct U.S. domestic surveillance.

An Anthropic spokesperson said that the meeting “continued good-faith conversations about our usage policy to ensure Anthropic can continue to support the government's national security mission in line with what our models can reliably and responsibly do.”

Pentagon officials have argued that the government should only be required to comply with U.S. law.

Earlier this month, Pentagon’s fight with Anthropic reached fever pitch when it grew concerned that the company had asked questions about how its AI products were used during the Venezuela military raid that captured President Nicolas Maduro.