Pentagon stops using Anthropic AI tools after national-security review

The US Department of Defense has stopped using Anthropic's AI tools, according to an official statement cited in a current report. The move comes months after the company was designated a supply-chain risk on national security grounds. It also follows a period in which the Pentagon had still been using the tools for research, analysis, intelligence gathering and military operations.

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A department official said the Pentagon has "ceased the use of Anthropic products". Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth labelled Anthropic a supply-chain risk in February and said the department would stop using it by late August. People familiar with the matter said the company's Claude model was still being used as recently as last week, including in work linked to operations against Iran.

Those accounts were provided by former US defence officials and contractors who have worked closely with the Pentagon on artificial intelligence. The report says the tools were seen as a critical way to sort through large volumes of information. Anthropic had been used by the US government and military since 2024 and was described as the first advanced AI company to have its tools deployed in government agencies doing classified work.

The company declined to comment on the Pentagon's statement. It is not clear why the department has now ended use of the products, despite the earlier deadline announced by Hegseth. The decision matters because it sits at the intersection of national security, military procurement and the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence in defence work.

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The Pentagon's earlier designation of Anthropic as a supply-chain risk is significant because that label is usually reserved for companies based in countries seen as a threat to the United States. The case also highlights the tension between military demand for powerful AI systems and concerns about safety controls, surveillance and autonomous weapons. Earlier this year, the Pentagon pressed Anthropic to remove safety guardrails from Claude and give the military unfettered access to its tools, according to the report.

Anthropic refused, citing concerns about mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. After that, Hegseth designated the company a national security supply-chain risk, and Anthropic called the move "unprecedented and unlawful". The company has since sued the Trump administration in an effort to overturn the designation.

The wider dispute comes as the Pentagon has also signed contracts with other major technology companies, including Google, xAI and OpenAI. That suggests the department is still expanding its use of AI even as one supplier is removed from its current workflow. What remains unclear is why the Pentagon stopped using Anthropic's tools now, whether the decision is permanent, and whether any operational functions will be shifted to other systems.

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