Tech company refuses Pentagon demands on unrestricted use of its AI
The Pentagon is calling for Anthropic to allow the Department of War to utilize the company's artificial intelligence product for "all lawful purposes," but CEO Dario Amodei has suggested the government could potentially use their product for "mass domestic surveillance" or "fully autonomous weapons," and that the company would not be willing to allow such use cases.
"The Department of War has stated they will only contract with AI companies who accede to 'any lawful use' and remove safeguards in the cases mentioned above. They have threatened to remove us from their systems if we maintain these safeguards; they have also threatened to designate us a ‘supply chain risk’ — a label reserved for US adversaries, never before applied to an American company — and to invoke the Defense Production Act to force the safeguards’ removal," Amodei said in a Thursday statement.
He declared that the "threats do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience accede to their request."
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Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs Sean Parnell declared in a post on X that the department does not want to engage in either of those activities but is asking to use Anthropic's AI for all legal purposes.
"The Department of War has no interest in using AI to conduct mass surveillance of Americans (which is illegal) nor do we want to use AI to develop autonomous weapons that operate without human involvement," Parnell said in the post. "Here's what we're asking: Allow the Pentagon to use Anthropic's model for all lawful purposes."
"This is a simple, common-sense request that will prevent Anthropic from jeopardizing critical military operations and potentially putting our warfighters at risk. We will not let ANY company dictate the terms regarding how we make operational decisions. They have until 5:01 PM ET on Friday to decide. Otherwise, we will terminate our partnership with Anthropic and deem them a supply chain risk for DOW," he noted.
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Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering Emil Michael accused Anthropic and Amodei of lying.
In a post on X, Michael called Amodei "a liar" who "has a God-complex."
"He wants nothing more than to try to personally control the US Military and is ok putting our nation’s safety at risk. The @DeptofWar will ALWAYS adhere to the law but not bend to whims of any one for-profit tech company," he asserted.
In another post he asserted, "Anthropic is lying. The @DeptofWar doesn’t do mass surveillance as that is already illegal. What we are talking about is allowing our warfighters to use AI without having to call @DarioAmodei for permission to shoot down an enemy drone swarms that would kill Americans."
War Secretary Pete Hegseth reposted both of Michael's messages.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Pentagon on Friday morning.
In response to a request for comment from Fox News Digital, Anthropic highlighted Amodei's statement that the company issued on Thursday.
"It is the Department’s prerogative to select contractors most aligned with their vision. But given the substantial value that Anthropic’s technology provides to our armed forces, we hope they reconsider. Our strong preference is to continue to serve the Department and our warfighters — with our two requested safeguards in place. Should the Department choose to offboard Anthropic, we will work to enable a smooth transition to another provider, avoiding any disruption to ongoing military planning, operations, or other critical missions. Our models will be available on the expansive terms we have proposed for as long as required," Amodei noted in his statement.
"We remain ready to continue our work to support the national security of the United States," he said.