Anthropic Faces Pentagon Pressure Over Claude AI Military Usage Restrictions

15.02.2026

The U.S. Department of Defense is reportedly demanding that AI companies permit military utilization of their technologies for "all lawful purposes," with Anthropic emerging as the primary source of resistance, according to recent industry reports.

The Pentagon has extended similar demands to OpenAI, Google, and xAI. According to an anonymous Trump administration official, one company has already acquiesced to these terms, while two others have demonstrated willingness to negotiate. Anthropic, however, has maintained the firmest opposition to unrestricted military deployment of its Claude AI models.

In response to Anthropic's stance, the Department of Defense is reportedly considering termination of its $200 million contract with the AI company. This escalation follows earlier reports indicating substantial disagreements between Anthropic and Defense Department officials regarding acceptable use cases for Claude models.

Recent revelations indicate that Claude was deployed during U.S. military operations targeting former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, raising questions about the scope of current AI system utilization in sensitive military operations.

An Anthropic spokesperson clarified the company's position, stating they have "not discussed the use of Claude for specific operations with the Department of Defense" but are instead "focused on a specific set of Usage Policy questions — namely, our hard limits around fully autonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance."

The dispute highlights growing tensions between AI ethics frameworks established by leading technology companies and government demands for unrestricted access to cutting-edge AI capabilities for national security purposes.

Sources:
Axios - Claude Pentagon Anthropic Contract
Wall Street Journal - Anthropic AI Defense Department Contract
Wall Street Journal - Pentagon Used Anthropic's Claude in Maduro Venezuela Raid