EXCLUSIVE-Pentagon clashes with Anthropic over military AI use

By Deepa Seetharaman, David Jeans and Jeffrey Dastin

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 29 (Reuters) - The Pentagon and artificial-intelligence developer Anthropic are at odds over potentially eliminating safeguards that might allow the government to use its technology to target weapons autonomously and conduct U.S. domestic surveillance, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The discussions represent an early test case for whether Silicon Valley – in Washington’s good graces after years of tensions – can sway how U.S. military and intelligence personnel deploy increasingly powerful AI on the battlefield.

After weeks of contract talks, the U.S. Department of Defense and Anthropic are at a standstill, six people familiar with the matter said, on condition of anonymity. The company's position on how its AI tools can be used has intensified disagreements between it and the Trump administration, details of which have not been previously reported.