Anthropic rejects latest Pentagon offer: 'We cannot in good conscience accede to their request'

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNN Business

Updated Feb 26, 2026, 6:20 PM ET
PUBLISHED Feb 26, 2026, 6:20 PM ET


Anthropic is rejecting the Pentagon’s latest offer to change their contract, saying the changes do not satisfy the company’s concerns that AI could be used for mass surveillance or in fully autonomous weapons.

The Pentagon and Anthropic are at odds over restrictions the company places on the use of Claude, the first AI system to be used in the military’s classified network.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Tuesday that if Anthropic does not allow its AI model to be used “for all lawful purposes,” the Pentagon would cancel Anthropic’s $200 million contract. In addition to the contract cancellation, Anthropic would be deemed a “supply chain risk,” a classification normally reserved for companies connected to foreign adversaries, Hegseth said.

Anthropic said in a statement that the Pentagon’s new language was framed as a compromise but “was paired with legalese that would allow those safeguards to be disregarded at will.”

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/26/tech/anthropic-rejects-pentagon-offer

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REFERENCES

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143607941
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143616459
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143617276
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143621589

[UpInArms]

1. Please do not ever accept the terms of the Nazis

Hang in there Anthropic

[ms liberty]

2. Oh good, I had read earlier that they had folded.

[highplainsdem]

3. They loosened their core safety promise, in a blog post late Tuesday after meeting with Pentagon

officials.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143621984

It looked to many, including me, like preparations to announce they would capitulate to the Pentagon's demands. And that.blog post got immediate backlash.

The backlash would also have hurt their business, and they may have calculated they have less to lose by standing up to the Pentagon.