Defence tech companies drop Claude after Pentagon blacklists Anthropic
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The news: A number of defence tech companies have begun telling their employees to stop using Anthropic’s Claude AI model, after the US Department of War (DoW) banned its use late last week.
The context: Alexander Harstrick, managing partner at J2 Ventures, which backs startups in the defence sector told CNBC that 10 of J2 Ventures’ portfolio companies that work with the DoW, “have backed off of their use of Claude for defense use cases and are in active processes to replace the service with another one.”
“Most of our companies are actively involved in large defense contracts and so are very strict in their interpretation of the requirements,” Harstrick said.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that defence contractors including Lockheed Martin are expected to remove Anthropic’s technology from their supply chains.
The Trump administration blacklisted Anthropic’s technology on Friday, designating its technology as a supply chain risk amid an ongoing feud with the company over its use.
The Pentagon and Anthropic had been in contentious discussions for months over the terms under which the DoW can use Claude, with Anthropic wanting to ensure that its tools are not used to surveil Americans or to develop weapons that fire without human involvement, while the DoW insists that the military is able to use the tools for all purposes.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said via X that any contractor or supplier doing business with the US military is barred from commercial activity with Anthropic. Via a blog post on Friday, Anthropic said Hegseth lacks the authority to restrict companies that work with Anthropic from doing business with the government.
Despite the feud, Anthropic’s Claude remains a key part of the US’ campaign in Iran, sources cited by The Washington Post state, as the tool is embedded within the military’s Maven Smart System. Built by Palantir, Maven is generating insights from a vast amount of classified data to provide real-time targeting and target prioritisation to military operations in Iran. The US military will continue using its technology as it waits for a replacement to be phased in, two sources told the masthead.
The sources: CNBC, Washington Post
