'God-Complex': Anthropic CEO Under Fire As Pentagon Pressurises AI Giant

The escalating row between the US military and artificial intelligence firm Anthropic has erupted into a bitter public feud, with a senior US government official launching an unprecedented personal attack on the company's chief executive.

At the centre of the dispute is Anthropic's refusal to lift strict ethical safeguards on its flagship AI model, Claude. The Silicon Valley firm demands ironclad guarantees that its technology will not be used for mass civilian surveillance or in the operation of fully autonomous weapons. 

In response, the Pentagon has issued a stark ultimatum, giving the firm until Friday to drop its conditions or face being blacklisted as a supply-chain risk.

The high-stakes standoff took an explosive turn when Emil Michael, the US Under Secretary of War, publicly condemned Anthropic's leadership. Taking to X, the senior defence official accused CEO Dario Amodei of arrogance and deliberately jeopardising national security.

“It's a shame that @DarioAmodei is a liar and has a God-complex,” Michael wrote. “He wants nothing more than to try to personally control the US Military and is ok putting our nation's safety at risk.” 

Drawing a firm line in the sand, the Under Secretary added that the department "will ALWAYS adhere to the law but not bend to whims of any one for-profit tech company."

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Michael's fiery rhetoric underscores Washington's mounting frustration. Defence officials insist they have no intention of deploying unlawful surveillance or building autonomous weapons without human oversight. However, they categorically refuse to allow a civilian enterprise to dictate their operational capabilities.

“We will not let ANY company dictate the terms regarding how we make operational decisions,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell stated recently. Officials have even threatened to invoke the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to forcibly requisition the software over the company's objections.

Despite the immense government pressure, Amodei remains steadfast, stating this week that the company cannot “in good conscience” accede to the military's demands. As the Friday deadline looms, this unprecedented clash between Silicon Valley and Washington threatens to fundamentally redefine how Western militaries integrate commercial AI into their national defence infrastructure.

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