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Mass surveillance remains a primary concern. The company believes government agencies could potentially combine privately sourced data with advanced machine learning analytics.

On autonomous weaponry, Anthropic does not categorically oppose the technology but believes reliability and accountability challenges remain unresolved.

“We don’t want to sell something that we don’t think is reliable, and we don’t want to sell something that could get our own people killed or that could get innocent people killed,” Amodei said.

He added that responsibility for decisions made by fully autonomous weapons is still legally and morally ambiguous.

U.S. defense officials have argued that technological competition, particularly with rival global powers, requires rapid innovation.

Military representatives pointed to foreign AI development programs as justification for flexible operational policies.

Anthropic, however, has pushed for what it describes as narrow safety exceptions rather than broad unrestricted deployment.

The company says its models have not been shown to encounter the two high-risk areas it wants protected: large-scale surveillance of domestic populations and autonomous lethal targeting.

The dispute has also entered the political sphere, with some officials criticizing Anthropic’s position.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the company as “sanctimonious” and suggested its leadership was attempting to influence military policy through commercial technology agreements.

Mr. Trump publicly accused the company of ideological bias, saying, “Their selfishness is putting AMERICAN LIVES at risk, our Troops in danger, and our National Security in JEOPARDY.”

Anthropic rejected those characterizations and maintained that its objective is to protect both technological innovation and national interests.

Amodei said, “Disagreeing with the government is the most American thing in the world… We are patriots. In everything we have done here, we have stood up for the values of this country.”

If negotiations fail, the Pentagon is expected to gradually remove Anthropic technology from military systems over a six-month transition period.

Officials have described the planned shift as part of efforts to move toward alternative technology providers.

The company has indicated it may challenge any formal supply chain risk designation through legal channels if issued.

Amodei stated that Anthropic has not yet received official documentation of such designation but would respond through court action if necessary.