Anthropic resists Pentagon pressure, says won't give Trump admin unconditional AI use for 'mass domestic surveillance'
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Anthropic resists Pentagon pressure, says won't give Trump admin unconditional AI use for 'mass domestic surveillance'")
Illustration showing Anthropic AI facing off Donald Trump Photograph: (AI-Generated image)
Anthropic has pushed back on US Pentagon pressure, saying it cannot “in good conscience” allow unrestricted military use of its technology. The move could trigger action under a Cold War-era law.
What lines is the company refusing to cross? Scroll down to read more.
AI firm Anthropic on Thursday (Feb 26) said it will not allow the Pentagon unrestricted military use of its technology. The Pentagon had reportedly given Anthropic until Friday to comply, warning that failure to do so could trigger action under the Defense Production Act. This Cold War-era law allows the government to compel private companies to prioritise defence needs.
Cannot agree "in good conscience"
In a statement, Anthropic's chief executive Dario Amodei said the company could not agree to Washington’s demand that its systems be made available without limits, even under national security pressure.
"These threats do not change our position," he said, adding that they "cannot in good conscience accede to their request".
Anthropic acknowledged that its models are already being used by the Pentagon and intelligence agencies in defensive roles. But Amodei said there were clear limits. Mass surveillance of US citizens, he argued, was incompatible with democratic values. "Using these systems for mass domestic surveillance is incompatible with democratic values."
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He also cautioned against relying on AI to run fully autonomous weapons systems, saying current technology is not reliable enough to make life-and-death decisions without human oversight. "We will not knowingly provide a product that puts America's warfighters and civilians at risk."
Pentagon tries to intimidate Anthropic
Earlier this week, US officials warned Anthropic that either the company agrees to unrestricted military use of its technology by 5:01 pm (22:01 GMT) Friday or face being forced to comply under the Defense Production Act. Pentagon also threatened that a refusal could lead to Anthropic being labelled a supply chain risk, a designation that can damage a company’s ability to work with government agencies.
