Trump Orders Federal Agencies to Dump ‘Woke’ Anthropic AI After Pentagon Dispute

President Donald Trump has ordered all US federal agencies to stop using artificial intelligence technology developed by Anthropic, escalating a dispute between the AI ​​company and the Pentagon over how the military uses the technology.

In a truth social after On Friday, Trump said agencies must “immediately stop” using Anthropic products, with a six-month phase-out period for departments already using the company’s technology.

“The United States of America will never allow a radical left, woke corporation to dictate how our great military fights and wins wars!” Trump wrote. “That decision belongs to your commander in chief and the great leaders I appoint to lead our military.

The directive follows Anthropic’s refusal Thursday to lift safeguards that prevent Claude from being used for “mass domestic surveillance” or “fully autonomous weapons,” after Pentagon officials demanded that contractors allow their systems to be used for “any lawful use.”

“The left-wing lunatics at Anthropic have made a disastrous mistake by attempting to strong-arm the War Department and force them to obey their terms of service instead of our Constitution,” Trump wrote.

President Trump called the situation a threat to American troops and national security.

“Their selfishness endangers American lives, endangers our troops and endangers our national security,” Trump said.

Anthropic has resisted Pentagon demands to allow unrestricted military use of its models, and also recently scaled back security language in its Responsible Scaling Policy.

On Friday, CNBC reported that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he is working to “help de-escalate” the situation. However, de-escalating the tension can be a heavy burden.

In his post, Trump said decisions affecting U.S. military operations should remain under presidential authority and not under “some out-of-control, radical left AI company run by people who have no idea what the real world is about,” he said.

“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 bring them into compliance, with major civil and criminal consequences,” Trump said.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth weighed in on the issue following Trump’s post, making similar comments about the decision and calling Anthropic’s move a “masterclass in arrogance and betrayal, as well as a textbook example of how not to do business with the US government or the Pentagon.”

“I am directing the War Department to designate anthropology as a national security supply chain risk,” Hegseth said. wrote on X. “Effective immediately, no contractor, supplier or partner doing business with the U.S. military may engage in any commercial activity with Anthropic. Anthropic will continue to provide its services to the War Department for a period not to exceed six months to enable a seamless transition to better and more patriotic service delivery.”

“American fighters will never be held hostage to the ideological whims of Big Tech,” he added. “This decision is final.”

After Trump’s announcement, the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology commented on the move in a statement Declutter.

“The President is bringing the full weight of the federal government to bear to blacklist a company for taking a rigorous, principled stand to limit some of the most extreme uses of AI imaginable – fully autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of Americans,” said CDT President and CEO Alexandra Givens.

“This action sets a dangerous precedent. It limits the ability of private companies to engage candidly with government about the appropriate use of their technology, which is especially important in national security environments that have so often reduced public visibility,” she added. “Retaliating against a company that imposes tailored, principled conditions on the use of its product undermines the fundamental freedoms of the marketplace and makes us all less safe.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication with comments from Hegseth and the CDT.