Trump Orders All Federal Agencies to Drop Anthropic Technologies Within Six Months

President Donald Trump has ordered all US federal agencies to completely cease using Anthropic's AI technologies within six months. Trump declared that the government no longer needs, wants, or will do business with the startup.

How the Pentagon-Anthropic Rift Began

In July 2025, the US Department of Defense signed contracts worth up to $200 million with Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and xAI to develop AI-powered security solutions. The department's Chief Digital and AI Office planned to leverage these technologies for building agentic systems.

By January 2026, the Wall Street Journal reported that the agreement with Anthropic was at risk of collapse. The core issue was the startup's strict ethical policy: Anthropic's rules prohibit using Claude for mass surveillance and autonomous lethal operations.

Frustration within the Pentagon grew as xAI's chatbot Grok was integrated into the department's network. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, commenting on the partnership with xAI, stressed that the military "will not use models that don't allow it to fight wars."

Escalation: Venezuela Operation and the Breaking Point

In February 2026, the US military deployed Claude during an operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, which sharply escalated the conflict. Pentagon officials openly discussed severing ties with Anthropic, and Hegseth labeled the company a "supply chain risk."

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei responded by saying the company would rather walk away from the Pentagon than allow its technologies to be used in ways that could "undermine rather than protect democratic values." He confirmed that the dispute centers on the potential use of tools like Claude for "mass domestic surveillance" and "fully autonomous weapons."

Trump's Sharp Rebuke

Trump harshly condemned Anthropic, writing that "leftists at Anthropic made a catastrophic mistake" by trying to impose their conditions on the military. He argued that the startup's stance "puts American lives, our troops, and national security at risk." He further described Anthropic as an "out-of-control" company run by people who "have no idea what the real world is."

Why This Matters

The standoff between the White House and Anthropic exposes a fundamental tension between AI developers' ethical frameworks and the demands of government institutions. The three other major suppliers — OpenAI, Google, and xAI — have all agreed to relax restrictions on their products for military use. ChatGPT, Gemini, and Grok are already deployed by the Pentagon for unclassified tasks. Anthropic stands alone in refusing such concessions.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk's SpaceX, which recently acquired xAI, will participate in building a fleet of voice-controlled autonomous drones for the military — further strengthening xAI's foothold in the defense sector and narrowing the field for Anthropic.