The Pentagon has “made some very good concessions" to resolve Anthropic's concerns regarding the use of the tech firm's AI model Claude by the US military, according to the Pentagon's Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael.
As per a CBS News report, Michael said the Department of Defense would "put it in writing that we're specifically acknowledging" laws that prohibit the US military from surveillance of American citizens.
Regarding Anthropic's concern about the use of Claude to operate fully autonomous weapons, Michael said, "We're specifically acknowledging these policies that have been in place for years at the Pentagon regarding autonomous weapons."
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According to The Guardian, the dispute between the US Department of Defense and Anthropic centres on the legal framework governing the use of the company's AI model, Claude. The Pentagon has pressed for all legally permitted applications to be enabled, including the removal of built-in safeguards, while the AI firm has resisted uses that could enable domestic mass surveillance or fully autonomous lethal systems.
Responding to CBS News' questions on why the military would not formally commit to barring Anthropic's AI from mass surveillance of Americans or autonomous strike decisions, Michael said such applications are already prohibited under existing laws and Pentagon regulations.
"At some level, you have to trust your military to do the right thing," said Michael. "But we do have to be prepared for the future. We do have to be prepared for what China is doing. So, we'll never say that we're not going to be able to defend ourselves in writing to a company,” he added.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell posted on X that Anthropic has till 5:01 p.m. ET (3:31 p.m. IST) on Friday to decide if it will “Allow the Pentagon to use Anthropic's model for all lawful purposes.”
“We will not let ANY company dictate the terms regarding how we make operational decisions,” he added.
According to Financial Times, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a stark ultimatum to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Tuesday, demanding swift approval for legal uses of the company's AI model or face losing access to defence supply chains.
In response to these developments, Amodei said in a blog post, “Regardless, these threats do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience accede to their request.”
“It is the Department's prerogative to select contractors most aligned with their vision. But given the substantial value that Anthropic's technology provides to our armed forces, we hope they reconsider,” he added.
The stakes are particularly high for Anthropic, which remains the only AI firm with its model operating on the Pentagon's classified systems, enabled through a collaboration with data analytics specialist Palantir. The company secured a $200 million contract from the Department of Defense last year to deploy its technology in support of national security objectives, as per a CBS News report.
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