The U.S. Defense Department has ended its use of artificial intelligence products from Anthropic, a Pentagon official confirmed, following months of tension between the technology company and the U.S. military.
The move follows a decision by Pete Hegseth, the Defense Secretary, in February to classify the company as a security supply-chain concern and order its removal from government systems.
The Pentagon had initially set a deadline of late August to complete the transition. It remains unclear why the process took longer than expected.
Sources familiar with the department’s AI operations said that Anthropic’s Claude models were still in use as of last week. They said the technology supported intelligence work, research, data analysis, and military activities involving Iran.
The company had supplied AI technology to the U.S. military and other government agencies since 2024. It became the first major advanced AI developer whose products were deployed for classified government work.
Relations deteriorated after Pentagon officials asked Anthropic to loosen restrictions built into Claude, including safeguards related to autonomous weapons and surveillance. The company rejected the request, arguing that removing those protections could create serious risks.
Hegseth subsequently designated Anthropic a security supply-chain concern, a measure more commonly associated with firms linked to countries considered hostile to the United States. Anthropic has challenged the decision in court, describing the designation as unlawful.
During the dispute, the department expanded its relationships with other technology companies, including OpenAI, Google, and xAI. OpenAI products have gained greater adoption in parts of the military in recent months.
Sources said Claude had been incorporated into Palantir’s Maven Smart System, a major Pentagon platform used to manage intelligence and other information. Removing the technology was therefore more complicated than simply ending a standalone software subscription.
Several sources said Maven was used to organize information such as drone imagery and satellite photographs before AI models processed the material for analytical tasks, including identifying possible military targets. The system also helped officials prepare concise intelligence reports for senior commanders.
The Pentagon’s relationship with Anthropic has since developed alongside improving contacts between the company and the White House. Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei met President Donald Trump twice last week.
Following one meeting, Amodei said he remained concerned about potential dangers from advanced AI but believed those issues could be addressed through cooperation with the administration. Trump praised Amodei publicly, noting that he was “fantastic and great.”
The on-off relationship between the White House and Anthropic executives makes other tech enterprises like D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) uncertain about what the federal policy on advanced technologies is. Regulatory clarity would go a long way in ending these ambiguities.
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