Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has threatened to force Anthropic, an artificial intelligence firm, to share its technology with the military unless it agrees to terms favorable to the Pentagon by Friday. The company, which has a $200 million contract with the Defense Department, is preparing to walk away from negotiations if concerns over the use of its technology for autonomous weapons or mass surveillance are not addressed.
Hegseth warned that he would invoke the Defense Production Act to compel Anthropic to share its AI model Claude, developed by co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei. The act allows the government to gain control of firms and their products in the name of national security.
However, experts question whether the Defense Production Act can be used in this way, citing concerns over the limits of government authority. Jerry McGinn, a director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that the use of DPA has not been used to force companies to limit their technology.
Anthropic is trying to balance its desire to work with the Pentagon while maintaining controls on how its technology is used. Amodei argued that neither of the limits he seeks would impinge on the department’s work, but Hegseth threatened to cancel the company’s contract if it does not comply by Friday.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/02/24/pentagon-demands-ai-access