US State Department Turns To OpenAI Chatbot As Federal Agencies Retreat From Anthropic

The Trump administration's order to halt the use of Anthropic technology across government has triggered swift action from several departments. The Treasury Department and the Federal Housing Agency are discontinuing their use of the company's products, while the State Department will pivot to OpenAI in place of Anthropic's Claude, reported Reuters. 

In a decisive step on Friday, President Donald Trump told federal bodies to end their engagement with Anthropic. The Pentagon went further, saying it planned to designate the artificial intelligence company a supply-chain risk. The move represents a significant setback for the firm following a tense dispute over the safeguards governing its technology.

An internal memo obtained by Reuters reveals that the State Department is overhauling its in-house chatbot, StateChat, by swapping out Anthropic's model in favour of one developed by OpenAI.

ALSO READ: AI's War: How US, Israel Are Using Claude, Habsora, Other AI Systems In Iran And Beyond

"For now, StateChat will use GPT4.1 from OpenAI," the memo said and added that more information will be available in the future. 

Further, William Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, posted on X, “U.S. Federal Housing, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are terminating all use of Anthropic products, including the use of its Claude platform.”

Also Read Anthropic Faces US Government Ban: What It Means For The Company

U.S. Federal Housing, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are terminating all use of Anthropic products, including the use of its Claude platform. https://t.co/5KxurW620h

— Pulte (@pulte) March 2, 2026

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that the department would discontinue its reliance on Anthropic's products, including its Claude model, in remarks posted to X.

At the direction of @POTUS, the @USTreasury is terminating all use of Anthropic products, including the use of its Claude platform, within our department.

The American people deserve confidence that every tool in government serves the public interest, and under President Trump… https://t.co/R7rF0ci5CY

— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) March 2, 2026

Previously, President Trump had posted on Truth Social, “THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL NEVER ALLOW A RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY TO DICTATE HOW OUR GREAT MILITARY FIGHTS AND WINS WARS! That decision belongs to YOUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, and the tremendous leaders I appoint to run our Military.”

The same was shared by the White House on X.

"THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL NEVER ALLOW A RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY TO DICTATE HOW OUR GREAT MILITARY FIGHTS AND WINS WARS! That decision belongs to YOUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, and the tremendous leaders I appoint to run our Military.

The Leftwing nut jobs at Anthropic… pic.twitter.com/aIEx92nnyx

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 27, 2026

Also Read: US Bars Anthropic Products From Agencies, Contractors

OpenAI shared a blog post on Feb. 28 on how its deal with the Department of War (DoW) ensures its tools will not be used for domestic surveillance.

“Throughout our discussions, the Department made clear it shares our commitment to ensuring our tools will not be used for domestic surveillance,” it said.

OpenAI's three “red lines” for working with DoW are:

• “No use of OpenAI technology for mass domestic surveillance.
• No use of OpenAI technology to direct autonomous weapons systems. 
• No use of OpenAI technology for high-stakes automated decisions (e.g. systems such as ‘social credit').”

“We think our agreement has more guardrails than any previous agreement for classified AI deployments, including Anthropic's,” it added.

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