Hegseth Threatens Anthropic With National Security Label, Demands Unrestricted Military Access to Claude AI by Friday

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatens to label AI startup Anthropic a national security risk and invoke the Defense Production Act unless the Pentagon receives unrestricted access to its Claude AI model by Friday, a move legal experts and bipartisan lawmakers are calling self-contradictory and potentially damaging to future government-tech partnerships.

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issues an ultimatum to AI startup Anthropic, demanding the military have unfettered access to its Claude AI model by Friday or face being labeled a national security supply chain risk, a designation typically reserved for foreign adversaries.
• Hegseth simultaneously threatens to invoke the Defense Production Act to compel Anthropic to cooperate with the Pentagon and drop its ethical restrictions, including bans on surveilling U.S. citizens and enabling autonomous weapons, drawing widespread criticism for being contradictory and 'incoherent.'
• Legal experts, former officials, and lawmakers from both parties warn that the Pentagon's aggressive dual-threat strategy is self-contradictory and could have a chilling effect on future partnerships between the U.S. government and Silicon Valley tech companies.