Pentagon Nears Cutting Ties With Anthropic Over Supply Chain Fears
Defense Secretary Hegseth is reportedly close to blacklisting Anthropic as a supply chain risk.
The Pentagon is on the verge of severing its business relationship with Anthropic. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is reportedly "close" to making the call, according to a senior Pentagon official cited by Axios.
The move would go beyond simply ending contracts. Hegseth is also weighing whether to formally designate Anthropic as a "supply chain risk" — a label that would effectively shut the AI company out of defense work and signal serious distrust at the highest levels of the Department of Defense.
The potential blacklisting marks a dramatic escalation in tensions between the Pentagon and one of the most prominent AI companies in the world. Anthropic, maker of the Claude family of AI models, has positioned itself as a safety-focused alternative in the AI race.
No final decision has been announced. But "close" doesn't leave much room for optimism on Anthropic's end.