Anthropic CEO denies Pentagon's request to remove AI safeguards

Anthropic has declared that it will maintain its stance against the US Department of Defense (DoD) regarding the utilisation of its artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

The company's CEO, Dario Amodei, stated on Thursday that they would prefer to avoid cooperating with the Pentagon rather than permit uses of their technology that could "harm, instead of preserve, democratic principles."

His remarks followed a meeting held two days prior with the US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, concerning demands that Anthropic allow "any legal application" of its tools. The encounter ended with a warning to exclude Anthropic from the DoD's supply network.

"Such threats do not alter our stance: we cannot agree to their demand with a clear conscience," Amodei remarked.

The core issue for Anthropic involves the possible use of its AI tools like Claude for "widespread domestic monitoring" and "entirely autonomous weaponry."

Amodei reiterated that "such applications have never been part of our agreements with the Department of War, and we stand firm that they should stay excluded."

The Department of War is another term used for the Defense Department following an executive order by US President Donald Trump in September.

"If the Department opts to remove Anthropic, we are ready to facilitate a smooth handover to a different provider," Amodei stated.

An Anthropic spokeswoman noted on Thursday that even though they received revised language for the contract from the DoD on Wednesday night, it showed "nearly no progress in preventing Claude's application for mass surveillance or in fully autonomous weaponry."

"The supposedly compromising language was combined with vague legal terms allowing bypass when convenient," she mentioned. "Despite [the Department of War's] recent claims to the public, these focused safeguards have been the heart of our discussions for months."

The Defense Department's representative could not be reached for feedback.

Emil Michael, the US Undersecretary for Defense, criticized Amodei on Thursday night via X, asserting that the executive "aims to personally dictate to the US Military and is fine with putting national safety in jeopardy."