Washington, District of Columbia, United States — President Donald Trump on Friday, February 27, 2026, directed all federal agencies of the United States government to immediately stop using technology developed by Anthropic after the artificial intelligence company refused to comply with a demand from the United States Department of Defense regarding military access to its systems.
Okay News reports that the dispute centres on Anthropic’s Claude artificial intelligence models. The Pentagon had requested that the San Francisco-based company agree to unconditional military use of its technology, including potential deployment in national security operations. Anthropic declined, stating that its systems should not be used for mass surveillance of United States citizens or deployed in fully autonomous weapons systems without human oversight.
In a statement issued on Friday, the company said, “No amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War will change our position on mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons.”
The United States Department of Defense, headquartered in Washington, District of Columbia, responded that it operates within the law and that contractors supplying technology to the federal government cannot dictate how their products are used once agreements are in place.
President Trump announced the directive in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform. 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!”
He added, “Anthropic 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.”
The Pentagon had earlier warned that Anthropic must comply with its demand by 5:01 pm Greenwich Mean Time on Friday or face compulsory action under the Defense Production Act. The Defense Production Act is a Cold War-era United States law that grants the federal government broad authority to direct private industry in support of national security priorities. It was most recently invoked during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In addition to possible compulsion under that law, the Pentagon threatened to designate Anthropic as a supply chain risk. Such a designation is typically applied to companies considered security concerns, often those based in adversary countries.
Anthropic said it would challenge any such designation in court. “We will challenge any supply chain risk designation in court,” the company stated in a detailed response outlining what it described as the dangers of the Pentagon’s demands. The company further said, “In a narrow set of cases, we believe AI can undermine, rather than defend, democratic values.” However, it maintained that it remains “ready to continue our work to support the national security of the United States.”
The confrontation has drawn reactions across the American political spectrum. United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said he had directed the Pentagon to proceed with measures preventing military contractors from engaging commercially with Anthropic. He wrote that “effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic.”
Hegseth criticised the company’s stance, saying, “Anthropic delivered a master class in arrogance and betrayal as well as a textbook case of how not to do business with the United States Government or the Pentagon.”
Meanwhile, the top Democrat in the United States House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, defended the company’s position. He described Hegseth as “the least qualified Secretary of Defense in our nation’s history,” and praised Anthropic’s decision to resist what he called “this shocking invasion of privacy scheme.” “Mass surveillance of American citizens is unacceptable,” Jeffries added.
The disagreement has also prompted reactions within the technology industry. Employees from major artificial intelligence firms, including Google DeepMind and OpenAI, signed an open letter titled “We Will Not Be Divided.” The letter urged technology leaders to stand together in opposing what it described as demands for domestic mass surveillance and the use of artificial intelligence in autonomous lethal weapons without human oversight.
“We hope our leaders will put aside their differences and stand together to continue to refuse the Department of War’s current demands for permission to use our models for domestic mass surveillance and autonomously killing people without human oversight,” the letter stated.
The chief executive officer of OpenAI, Sam Altman, reportedly informed employees that he was seeking an agreement with the Pentagon that would include clear limits similar to those proposed by Anthropic. In a memo reported by United States media, he wrote, “We have long believed that AI should not be used for mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons, and that humans should remain in the loop for high-stakes automated decisions.”
Okay News reports that the dispute highlights growing global tensions over how artificial intelligence technologies should be governed, particularly when national security interests intersect with civil liberties and democratic safeguards. The outcome of the confrontation between the White House and Anthropic could influence how governments around the world regulate the military use of advanced artificial intelligence systems in the years ahead.
