President Trump, posting on Truth Social, directed every federal agency to stop using Anthropic's AI technology immediately, allowing the Pentagon a six-month phase-out while warning of "major civil and criminal consequences" if Anthropic did not cooperate with the transition. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth simultaneously announced on X that he was designating Anthropic a "supply chain risk to national security" and barring federal contractors from doing business with it. The actions followed Amodei's refusal of the Pentagon's demands the day before. Anthropic called the designation "legally unsound" and said it would "set a dangerous precedent for any American company that negotiates with the government," vowing to challenge it in court. OpenAI's Sam Altman defended Anthropic, saying he mostly trusted them as a company, and retired Air Force General Jack Shanahan called its safeguards reasonable; Elon Musk sided with Trump, posting that "Anthropic hates Western Civilization." It was the first time the US government moved to exclude a named AI company outright, and the sharpest collision yet between an AI company's usage policy and the demands of the state.
27February 2026
PolicyConfirmed
Federal government bars Anthropic and labels it a supply chain risk
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Not parties to this event, but named in the text above.
Tags
- government
- national-security
- regulation
Sources
Later developments
6 March 2026 · Development
Amazon said AWS customers could continue using Claude for work outside defense, clarifying part of the confusion over how far the designation reached.
26 March 2026 · Development
US District Judge Rita Lin in California temporarily blocked the "supply chain risk" designation and the government-wide ban on using Anthropic's products.
27 August 2026 · Development
The district court ruled on summary judgment that the designation was unlawful and vacated it.