Anthropic reopens talks with US Pentagon after feud over AI safety

By Shirin Ghaffary

 

Anthropic PBC chief Dario Amodei has resumed discussions with the Pentagon about the way its AI models are used by the US military, raising the possibility that the two sides can resolve a feud that’s transfixed Silicon Valley. 

Amodei had been negotiating with Emil Michael, under-secretary of defence for research and engineering, to hammer out a contract governing the Pentagon’s access to Anthropic’s technology. But talks broke down last week after the startup demanded assurances that its AI wouldn’t be used for mass surveillance of Americans or autonomous weapons deployment. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth then declared Anthropic a supply-chain risk, a designation typically reserved for US adversaries. 

 

 

Discussions have since resumed, a person familiar with the matter said. If both sides strike a new agreement, it would allow the military to resume using Anthropic’s AI while lessening the risk that the Pentagon would officially blacklist the company. It could also complicate rival efforts: OpenAI last week announced it had struck an agreement to let the Pentagon deploy its artificial intelligence models in its classified network. OpenAI chief Sam Altman later said he was working with the defence department to add more guardrails around surveillance. 

 

Anthropic declined to comment, while a Pentagon spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment made after hours. The Financial Times earlier reported the resumption of negotiations. 

 

A resolution would help clear the air around one of the artificial intelligence industry’s fastest-growing and most promising firms.

 

Anthropic — now valued at $380 billion — is on track to generate annual revenue of almost $20 billion, a projection based on current performance, more than doubling its run rate from late last year. The Pentagon dispute, however, has muddied the outlook for the company.

 

Any long-term impact from the Pentagon’s declaration on Anthropic’s sales to enterprise customers – which has long been its core business – remains to be seen. In the meantime, it’s gaining traction with everyday users. Anthropic’s main app recently topped Apple Inc.’s download charts, reflecting a surge of support for the company.

 

Much of Silicon Valley also rallied around Amodei. Tech groups representing major companies, including Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Apple, are urging President Donald Trump to reconsider designating Anthropic a national security risk, arguing that it would cause detrimental ripple effects for the rest of the industry.