Editor’s Note
This article examines a significant shift in U.S. defense policy, where internal debates over the ethical use of AI in combat are reportedly leading the Pentagon to view a major domestic AI company as a potential security risk.
A deepening dispute over how artificial intelligence should be used in modern warfare is now pushing the Pentagon towards an extraordinary step: treating a leading American AI firm as a security liability.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is “close” to cutting business ties with Anthropic and designating the company a “supply chain risk”, a senior Pentagon official told Axios — a move that would effectively penalise not only Anthropic but also any contractor that relies on its technology.
The same official described the prospective decision to Axios in blunt terms.
Pentagon’s threatened “supply chain risk” designation for Anthropic AI is rarely deployed against domestic firms and is more commonly associated with entities linked to hostile foreign powers. Applying it to Anthropic would represent a sharp escalation in the Trump administration’s push to ensure AI systems used by the military are available without restrictive conditions.