Donald Trump said Friday he will direct all federal agencies to “IMMEDIATELY CEASE” all use of Anthropic technology.
The Department of Defense and Anthropic have hit an impasse with neither side backing down as a deadline for an agreement hits Friday afternoon. The Pentagon is demanding that the artificial intelligence company loosen ethical guidelines on its AI systems or, the government says, face severe consequences.
Trump weighed in just an hour before the deadline, saying on Truth Social: “The Leftwing nut jobs at Anthropic have made a DISASTROUS MISTAKE trying to STRONG-ARM the Department of War, and force them to obey their Terms of Service instead of our Constitution.”
“WE will decide the fate of our Country – NOT some out-of-control, Radical Left AI company run by people who have no idea what the real World is all about,” Trump wrote.
Late Thursday evening, Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesperson, posted on social media that “we will not let ANY company dictate the terms regarding how we make operational decisions”. He added that Anthropic has “until 5:01PM ET on Friday to decide”.
This came after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in a statement earlier in the day that his company “cannot in good conscience accede” to the Pentagon’s demand for unrestricted use of its AI tools.
The public showdown began earlier this week when the Department of Defense and Anthropic entered into discussions about the military’s use of the company’s Claude AI system. But the talks broke down as both sides appeared to be unable to come to agreement over safety guardrails.
Anthropic, which presents itself as the most safety-forward of the leading AI companies, has been mired in months of disagreement with the Pentagon even before the public discussions began this week. US defense officials have pushed for unfettered access to Claude’s capabilities that they say can help protect the country, while Anthropic has resisted allowing its product to be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons systems that can kill people without human input.
“Anthropic understands that the Department of War, not private companies, makes military decisions. We have never raised objections to particular military operations nor attempted to limit use of our technology in an ad hoc manner,” Amodei said Thursday. “However, in a narrow set of cases, we believe AI can undermine, rather than defend, democratic values.”
The Department of Defense has already integrated Claude into its operations, but with the breakdown in talks it is now threatening to sever the relationship. Not only has the Pentagon said it will cancel a $200m contract with the company, but military officials have also warned they will deem Anthropic a “supply chain risk”. This type of designation is normally used on foreign adversaries and could endanger the company’s partnerships with other businesses.
Parnell said the Defense Department “has no interest” in using AI for mass surveillance or to develop autonomous weapons. “This narrative is fake and being peddled by leftists in the media,” he said.
In Silicon Valley, Anthropic has drawn support from its most fierce rivals. Top executives at AI companies have publicly sided with Anthropic, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman who indicated in a CNBC interview on Friday that OpenAI shares the same red lines as Anthropic.
Nearly 500 OpenAI and Google employees have also signed onto an open letter saying “we will not be divided”. Both OpenAI and Google also have contracts with the military.
“The Pentagon is negotiating with Google and OpenAI to try to get them to agree to what Anthropic has refused,” reads the letter. “They’re trying to divide each company with fear that the other will give in.”
Amodei said in his statement on Thursday that he hopes the Pentagon will reconsider. “Our strong preference is to continue to serve the Department and our warfighters”, he said. But, if the government does offboard Anthropic, he said the company “will work to enable a smooth transition to another provider”.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
