The US Department of Defence is no longer using Anthropic's AI tools, an official has told the BBC, months after it designated the company a supply chain risk on national security grounds. The Pentagon "has ceased the use of Anthropic products", the department official said in a statement. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth labelled Anthropic a supply chain risk in February, and announced that the Pentagon would stop using it by late August.
But multiple people familiar with the matter told the BBC that as recently as last week Anthopic's Claude model was still used by the department in research, analysis and intelligence gathering as well as in military operations against Iran. It was viewed as a critical tool for sorting through vast quantities of information, the people said. They include former US defence officials and contractors who have worked closely with the Pentagon specifically on AI.
A spokesman for Anthropic declined to comment when asked about the Pentagon's statement. The details of the defence department stopping all use of Anthropic's tools have not been previously reported. Anthropic had been used by the US government and military since 2024 and was the first advanced AI company to have its tools deployed in government agencies doing classified work.
But earlier this year, the Pentagon pressed it to remove its safety guardrails from Claude and give the military unfettered access to its AI tools. When Anthropic refused, citing concerns of mass surveillance and autonomous weapons, Hegseth designated the company a "national security supply-chain risk" - a law typically reserved for companies based in countries that pose a threat to the US. Anthropic said the move was "unprecedented and unlawful" and has sued the Trump administration in an effort to overturn the designation.
Trump administration illegally retaliated against Anthropic, judge rules Anthropic sues US government for calling it a risk Anthropic blocks possible attempt to use AI to make biological weapons Anthropic boss Dario Amodei calls for AI development to slow down As this legal fight has played out in the courts, the Pentagon has signed contracts with other major tech companies, including Google, xAI and OpenAI. OpenAI tools have been more widely adopted in recent months in some military departments, according to two people familiar with AI use in the defence department The Pentagon's statement to the BBC on Monday came after multiple people said in interviews that Claude was still being widely used in recent weeks. It was embedded in a larger data platform used by the Pentagon called Maven Smart System, multiple sources said.
Maven, which is operated by Palantir, is the Pentagon's primary platform for organising intelligence and other data. Lauren Kahn, a senior research analyst at Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology said that because Claude was deeply integrated into Maven it would have been difficult to remove it quickly from the system. "The fact that it took the Pentagon until now to remove all use of Claude from across the system is indicative that these things are not just plug and play," she said.
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