Feb 27, 2026 — Anthropic published a statement responding to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s public post on X earlier today directing the Department of War to designate Anthropic as a supply-chain risk. The company said the announcement follows months of negotiations that stalled over two narrowly defined exceptions Anthropic requested to the lawful use of its AI model, Claude: mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons.
Negotiations and the two exceptions
Anthropic says it has negotiated in good faith with the Department of War and made clear it supports lawful uses of AI for national security, except for the two narrow areas above. According to the company, to its knowledge those exceptions have not affected a single government mission so far.
The company explained its reasons: first, it does not consider today’s frontier AI models reliable enough to be used in fully autonomous weapon systems, and permitting such use would endanger service members and civilians. Second, Anthropic regards mass domestic surveillance of Americans as a violation of fundamental rights.
Communication and past government work
Anthropic also stated it has not received direct communication from the Department of War or the White House about the status of negotiations. The company noted that it was the first frontier AI firm to deploy models into the U.S. government’s classified networks and has supported American warfighters since June 2024; it said it intends to continue doing so.
Legal scope and customer impact
The company described a supply-chain risk designation as unprecedented for a U.S. company, noting that such designations have historically been used against U.S. adversaries and not publicly applied to American firms. Anthropic said it believes a designation would be legally unsound and create a dangerous precedent.
Citing 10 U.S.C. 3252, Anthropic argued that any supply-chain risk designation can legally extend only to the use of Claude as part of Department of War contracts and cannot dictate how contractors use Claude for other customers or purposes.
In practical terms, Anthropic summarized the immediate effects as follows:
- Individual customers and those with commercial contracts retain full access to Claude via the API, claude.ai, or other Anthropic products — they would be unaffected.
- For Department of War contractors, a formal designation would only limit use of Claude on Department of War contract work; contractors’ uses for other work would not be affected.
Anthropic added that its sales and support teams are available to answer questions and expressed gratitude to users, industry peers, policymakers, veterans, and members of the public who voiced support in recent days.
Legal challenge and company stance
Anthropic said no amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War will change its position on mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. The company stated it will challenge any supply-chain risk designation in court.
The statement closed by reiterating Anthropic’s priorities: protecting customers from disruption caused by these extraordinary developments and cooperating with the Department of War to ensure a smooth transition for contractors, service members, and U.S. military operations.
