The Pentagon has designated AI company Anthropic a “supply-chain risk", limiting the use of its technology in US military contracts despite its alleged role in operations linked to the war in Iran.
President Donald Trump last week called Anthropic a "radical left" company and told government agencies to stop using its tools immediately, after the fast-rising AI firm said it would refuse to lift guardrails aimed at preventing the mass surveillance of US citizens, among other things.
The "supply-chain risk" label, confirmed in a statement by Anthropic, is effective immediately and bars government contractors from using the company's technology in their work for the US military. The company's Claude platform has played an important role in US strikes on Iran, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post reported.
But companies can still use Claude in projects unrelated to the Pentagon, chief executive Dario Amodei said in the statement. He repeated that the company would challenge the designation in court.
Mr Amodei also apologised for an internal memo published on Wednesday by tech news site The Information. In the memo, written last Friday, he said Pentagon officials did not like the company in part because “we haven’t given dictator-style praise to Trump".
