Issuing a latest strike against the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic, US President Donald Trump released a scathing announcement against what he described as a “radical Left, Woke company” in a Friday (US time social media post. Essentially banning the company’s use across federal agencies, he wrote, “I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again!”

The MAGA leader also emphasised that a “Six Month phase out period” will be exercised against agencies like the Department of Defence, which has now been dubbed the ‘Department of War,’ for using Anthropic’s products.

Furiously asserting his anti-Anthropic stance, he demanded the company to “better get their act together, and be helpful during this phase out period, or I will use the Full Power of the Presidency to make them comply, with major civil and criminal consequences to follow.”

ALSO READ

Pentagon threatens Anthopic punishment

In addition to Trump’s announcement, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has also directed the ‘Department of War’ to designate the Dario Amodei-led company a “Supply-Chain Risk to National Security,” further prompting the US government to sever any and all ties with the company.

This kind of penalty is usually reserved for foreign adversaries. It would ultimately bar any military contractor from doing business with Anthropic.

Last month, Hegseth released a new AI strategy document, calling for any contracts with AI companies to get rid of company-specific guardrails or constraints on how the US military can use their AI system. It allowed “any lawful use” of AI for Defence Department purposes.

As a result, the document urged defence officials to incorporate the language into any Defence Department AI contract within 180 days, thereby impacting Anthropic’s ties with the military. Hegseth had particularly given the company an ultimatum: Either allow the Pentagon to use the company’s AI as per its discretion or lose the government contract.

Other than Dario Amodei’s company, the Pentagon also has contracts with Google, OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAi.

Anthropic threatens lawsuit

According to AFP, the AI startup has vowed to sue the US after the Pentagon banned its used by the military. “No amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War will change our position on mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. We will challenge any supply chain risk designation in court,” the company shared via a statement.

Why are Anthropic and Trump’s admin at war?

Amid the months-long heated debate between the US Defence Department and the AI company over the military’s use of its systems, Anthropic has generally supported its being services being used for national security. However, Anthropic’s CEO and primary founder Dario Amodei has made his stance clear in the dispute against Trump and the Defence Department over the systems’ use for domestic surveillance or in fully autonomous weapons.

Amodei has firmly asserted in the past few months of contract negotiations with Pentagon that he was against its AI systems of being harnessed for domestic surveillance of Americans or in autonomous weapons. He believes that doing so would inevitably “undermine, rather than defend, democratic values.”

Although the AI chatbot Claude’s maker emphasised in a statement that it wasn’t swearing off negotiations with the Trump admin, it also noted that the language highlighted in the new contract from the Defence Department “made virtually no progress on preventing Claude’s use for mass surveillance of Americans or in fully autonomous weapons.”

On the contrary, the Pentagon has defended its own stance, with top spokesman Sean Parnell taking to social media to suggest the military “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.”

Silicon Valley rises against Pentagon

With the Trump administration doubling down down hard on its anti-Anthropic stance, the issue has simply driven a wedge between Washington DC and top leaders at US tech firms, including the likes of OpenAI, Google, Amazon and Microsoft.

Despite their stance as major tech rivals, employees at major Silicon Valley companies in the US are rallying behind Dario Amodei’s artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The massive shout-outs have included OpenAI CEO backing Anthropic’s standpoint in a memo to his employees this week. “We have long believed that AI should not be used for mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons,” he said therein, as quoted by The New York Times, adding, “this is no longer just an issue between Anthropic and the DoW; this is an issue for the whole industry and it is important to clarify our stance.”

On top of that, more than 100 employees at Google have since signed a petition, urging the tech leader to “refuse to comply” with the Pentagon on certain uses of AI in military operations. Similarly, employees at Amazon, Microsoft and Google have also called on the respective tech giants’ leaders to “hold the line” against the Pentagon.

The worker-led No Tech For Apartheid Campaign voiced its viewpoint on the matter in an open letter published on the Medium website on Thursday (US time). The article titled “Worker Organizations And Unions Representing 700,000 Employees Demand: Amazon, Google, Microsoft Must Reject The Pentagon’s Demands” revealed the first collective statement issued by groups of workers from Amazon, Google and Microsoft.

“We are speaking out today because the Pentagon is demanding that Anthropic abandon two major safety guardrails for Claude, which is the only frontier AI model currently deployed in classified Department of War operations,” the group stated.

ALSO READ

“This intimidation is an ultimatum: AI companies can either agree to the Pentagon’s terms, or be designated a “supply chain risk,” or forced to provide the technology through the Defense Production Act.”

The group urged its own companies to follow Anthropic’s footsteps and “refuse to comply should they or the frontier labs they invest in enter into further contracts with the Pentagon.”

“Executive leadership at Google, Microsoft, and Amazon must reject the Pentagon’s advances and provide workers with transparency about contracts with other repressive state agencies including DHS, CBP, and ICE,” the letter added.

It was signed by the following groups: Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, Not Tech for Apartheid (Google and Amazon workers), Communications Workers of America (CWA), Amazon Labor Union – IBT Local 1, United Tech & Allied Workers – CWU (UK), Alphabet Workers Union – CWA Local 9009, United Videogame Workers – CWA Local 9433 and No Azure for Apartheid.

A separate letter titled “We Will Not Divided,” signed by OpenAI and Google workers, accused the Department of Defence of attempting to coerce Anthropic into lifting restrictions on its mandates surrounding the use of its AI models.

“They’re trying to divide each company with fear that the other will give in,” the letter said.