Anthropic fights designation from Department of War as AI dispute escalates

The Department of Defense, known under the Trump administration as the Department of War, has just officially designated AI company Anthropic a "supply-chain risk" to national security. But Anthropic isn't buying it. "We do not believe this action is legally sound, and we see no choice but to challenge it in court," Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wrote in a statement responding to the ongoing dispute. Amodei also emphasized that the designation does not affect the majority of Anthropic customers. Anthropic is "proud of the work" it has done alongside the federal government in "supporting frontline warfighters with applications such as intelligence analysis, modeling and simulation, operational planning, cyber operations, and more," Amodei said. The dispute began over the potential use of Anthropic's AI technology to carry out mass domestic surveillance, and to power autonomous weapons like drones. The relationship between Anthropic and the U.S. military deteriorated last week, after the AI company won a $200 million contact from the federal government — but sought guarantees that its technology would not be used for surveillance, or weapons that can fire without humans in the loop. The