Tech leaders and defense officials challenge Pentagon's supply chain risk label for Anthropic

Tech Groups Urge Trump to Drop Anthropic Supply-Chain Risk Label

Tech groups representing major companies including Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Apple Inc. are urging President Donald Trump to reconsider designating Anthropic PBC a national security risk, arguing the move would cause detrimental ripple effects for the rest of the industry. The tech industry's support brings new strength to the push against the Pentagon's decision to declare Anthropic a "supply-chain risk," after the company pushed for restrictions on military use of its AI tools for surveillance and autonomous weaponry.

Defense experts defend Anthropic in letter to Congress, slam DoD for setting 'dangerous precedent'

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei looks on after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron during the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on February 19, 2026. A group of former defense and intelligence officials and policy experts sent a letter on Thursday to Congress calling for an investigation into the Pentagon's decision to designate Anthropic a supply chain risk. The bipartisan coalition of 30 people said in the letter, shared with CNBC, that the purpose of deeming an entity a supply chain risk is "to protect the United States from infiltration by foreign adversaries." The group characterized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's decision last Friday against Anthropic as a "profound departure" that "sets a dangerous precedent." Hegseth announced the directive on X, after President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to stop using Anthropic, whose Claude models and services have skyrocketed in popularity, largely in the enterprise world. "Applying this tool to penalize a U.S. firm for declining to remove safeguards against mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons is a category error with consequences that extend far beyond this dispute," the group said in the letter, addressed to the chairs and ranking members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees. Signatories include retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Donald Arthur, former deputy assistant secretary of defense Diana Banks Thompson, former Andreessen Horowitz general partner John O'Farrell, Kat Duffy of the Council on Foreign Relations and Inflection AI CEO Sean White. "For national security, the United States is in an AI race it cannot afford to lose," the letter said. "Blacklisting one of America's leading AI companies -- and requiring its thousands of contractors and partners to sever ties as well -- does not strengthen our competitive position. It weakens it." The group is urging Congress to "exercise its oversight authority against this inappropriate use of executive authority" and to implement legal guardrails "protecting the United States from foreign threats, not disciplining American companies for disagreeing with the executive branch." The letter lands a day after the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), whose members include Nvidia, Google and Anthropic, sent a letter to Hegseth expressing similar concerns. "Contract disputes should be resolved through continued negotiation between the parties, or by the Department selecting alternate providers through established procurement channels," ITI said in the letter. "Emergency authorities such as supply chain risk designations exist for genuine emergencies and are typically reserved for entities that have been designated as foreign adversaries." Several defense tech companies have told their workforce to stop using Anthropic's Claude service following the White House's orders, CNBC reported.

Former Military Officials, Academics, and Tech Policy Leaders Denounce Pentagon's Tactics Against Anthropic

"The future of American innovation in AI, the rule of law, and the constitutional boundaries of executive power are all on the line, and they are yours to defend." Over two dozen former defense and intelligence officials, tech policy leaders, and academics have signed on to a letter addressed to members of Congress over the Pentagon's recent decision to list Anthropic as a supply chain risk. The letter was signed by former high-ranking officials and current tech experts from across the political spectrum and calls on Congress to establish clear policies governing the use of AI for domestic surveillance and autonomous lethal weapons systems, the two issues at the center of the conflict. Anthropic had refused to loosen those guardrails for the military, setting off Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump, who have tried to blacklist the AI company, demanding that other firms with government contracts no longer do business with them. The letter calls for the federal government's designation of the AI company as a supply chain risk an "inappropriate use of executive authority against Anthropic." Brad Carson, president of Americans for Responsible Innovation, and former Under Secretary of the Army, told Gizmodo in a statement that it was a dangerous precedent. "The use of this authority against a domestic American company is a profound departure from its intended purpose and sets a dangerous precedent," the letter reads. "Supply chain risk designations exist to protect the United States from infiltration by foreign adversaries â€" from companies beholden to Beijing or Moscow, not from American innovators operating transparently under the rule of law." The signatories to the letter include former CIA director Michael Hayden, retired Vice Admiral of the Navy Donald Arthur and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Diana Banks Thompson, among a host of other members of the military. Tech and education experts Lawrence Lessig and Randi Weingarten are also on the list, along with members of various tech-focused think tanks. The letter notes that caring about fully autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of weapons is a very mainstream thing: They are not fringe positions. The prohibition on fully autonomous lethal weapons is consistent with the laws of armed conflict, including principles of distinction and proportionality codified in the Geneva Conventions. The prohibition on mass domestic surveillance is grounded in the Fourth Amendment and in binding U.S. treaty obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It also points out that blacklisting an American company weakens U.S. competitiveness, warning this is "not a marketplace any serious entrepreneur or investor can build around." The letter is addressed to members of both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, including Republicans Sen. Roger Wicker and Rep. Mike Rogers as well as Democrats Sen. Jack Reed and Rep. Adam Smith. Anthropic's future is still in doubt. Hegseth still hasn't formally given Anthropic notice that it's a supply chain risk (aside from a tweet) and the latest reporting from CBS News suggests the AI company is still trying to work out a deal with the Pentagon.

Tech industry group expresses 'concern' to Pete Hegseth over supply chain risk label

The letter, written by the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), doesn't name Anthropic, though the artificial intelligence company was given that label on Friday after failing to come to terms with the Defense Department. "We are concerned by ⁠recent reports regarding the Department of War's consideration of imposing a supply chain risk designation in response to a procurement dispute," ITI wrote in the letter. The ITI's other members include Microsoft, Apple and Amazon. "Contract disputes should be resolved through continued negotiation between the parties, or by the Department selecting alternate providers through established procurement channels," ITI said. "Emergency authorities such as supply chain risk designations exist for genuine emergencies and are typically reserved for entities that have been designated as foreign adversaries." Hegseth announced on X on Friday that the Pentagon would be labeling Anthropic a "supply chain risk to national security," shortly after President Donald Trump ordered every U.S. government agency to immediately stop using the company's technology.

Anthropic "supply chain risk" designation could favor China

Why it matters: By penalizing a domestic leader for its safety standards, the U.S. is creating a market opening for cheaper, unregulated models from competing countries. State of play: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said he was directing the DoW to label Anthropic a supply chain risk on X, a designation typically reserved for foreign adversaries. * President Trump instructed every federal agency to stop using Anthropic's technology "IMMEDIATELY" in a Truth Social post. * The designation effectively bars any company doing business with the Department of War from using Anthropic's technology, potentially wiping out dozens of major enterprise customers. The other side: DeepSeek, despite its ties to China, is not designated a supply chain risk. It's also rumored to release its latest model this week. * Its popularity is growing: Per Sensor Tower data, DeepSeek's U.S. downloads grew 20% in one day after OpenAI landed its Department of War contract. What they're saying: "Anthropic is being villainized in a way that these Chinese open source labs aren't," Brexton Pham, global co-head of AI Infrastructure at Cantor Fitzgerald told Axios. * "This very public kind of blow up or fallout will result in the United States government not being able to leverage some of the best models that the United States has," Cole McFaul, senior research analyst at CSET told Axios. Zoom in: The Pentagon has previously described Anthropic's models as superior to alternatives. * Anthropic's AI tools remain deeply embedded in military deployment, most recently used during the U.S. intervention in Iran. * Because the Pentagon has used Claude for longer, McFaul says, training context and efficiency is now at risk. * "This is a failure for the United States," he added. Zoom out: "Chinese models have already taken over the market," May Habib, CEO of AI firm Writer told Axios, as American AI startups are increasingly leaning on cheaper, open source Chinese models to fine tune their own. * This allows enterprise users to avoid the high price tag that comes with relying on leading U.S. AI companies. * It's not just startups: Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has confirmed the company is using Chinese models because they are cheaper. Between the lines: If corporations and the government can use Chinese models, but can't use the top U.S. AI models, that could give China a competitive advantage. * The U.S. government's treatment of Anthropic could cause a "chilling effect to innovation" leaving an opening for Chinese labs with different ethical standards, Jennifer Huddleston, senior fellow in technology policy at Cato told Axios. * The spread of DeepSeek "provides a channel for promoting Chinese propaganda in the West," according to a report from the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service. * DeepSeek's privacy policy also states that it stores user data on Chinese servers, governed under Chinese law, including government requests for data. Flashback: Anthropic has argued that Chinese labs are actively trying to extract insights from U.S. frontier models to improve their own. * If the Pentagon limits access to a domestic lab while foreign rivals continue advancing, critics say that could widen the competitive gap Washington is trying to avoid. Yes, but: The military has made clear in several other ways that it doesn't want employees using Chinese models. * The U.S. Navy banned the use of DeepSeek, and so did the Pentagon after discovering employees were using the chatbot on work computers. * A supply chain risk designation is separate from banning use of a company's product: A supply chain risk weaponizes procurement, forcing any company with government ties to separate from firms deemed supply chain risks. A ban simply prevents use. The bottom line: By restricting Anthropic, a leading U.S. AI firm, the government could give Chinese competitors -- already expanding in the U.S. market -- a strategic opening.

Anthropic Reopens Pentagon Talks as Trump Weighs Supply Chain Risk Label

Anthropic previously secured a $200 million Pentagon contract, and its AI has been used in classified operations, including support for US air strikes on Iran, the Financial Times reports. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has reportedly reopened negotiations with the US Department of Defense in a last-minute effort to secure continued access to Pentagon contracts as the company faces the possibility of being labeled a supply chain risk by the Trump administration. Amodei has been holding discussions with Emil Michael, the US undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, to finalize terms governing the military's use of Anthropic's artificial intelligence models, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. A new agreement would allow the Pentagon to keep using the company's technology and could prevent a formal designation that would force contractors in the defense supply chain to cut ties with the AI developer, per the report. The talks follow a sharp breakdown in negotiations last week. Michael reportedly accused Amodei of being a "liar" with a "God complex," while discussions collapsed after the two sides failed to agree on language Anthropic said was necessary to prevent misuse of its technology. Related: Ex-OpenAI researcher's hedge fund reveals big Bitcoin miner bets in new SEC filing In an internal memo to staff seen by the FT, Amodei reportedly wrote that near the end of negotiations, the Pentagon offered to accept Anthropic's broader terms if the company removed a clause restricting the "analysis of bulk acquired data." He said this phrase was meant to guard against potential mass domestic surveillance, a scenario Anthropic treats as a red line, alongside the use of AI in lethal autonomous weapons. The dispute escalated after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that Anthropic could be designated a supply chain risk, a move that would effectively freeze the company out of US military procurement networks. The standoff comes despite Anthropic's existing ties to the defense sector. The company was awarded a contract worth up to $200 million by the US Defense Department in July 2025 and became the first AI provider whose models were used in classified environments and by national security agencies. As Cointelegraph reported, the US military even used Anthropic's Claude AI model to support a major air strike on Iran hours after President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to stop using the company's systems. Related: Mining companies move deeper into AI, HPC as MARA may sell Bitcoin Meanwhile, in a Wednesday letter to Trump, tech groups warned that labeling a domestic AI firm a supply chain risk could undermine US leadership in AI. The groups argued that treating a US technology company "as a foreign adversary, rather than an asset," could discourage innovation and weaken America's ability to compete with China in the global AI race. Signatories included the Software & Information Industry Association, TechNet, the Computer & Communications Industry Association and the Business Software Alliance. These organizations represent hundreds of American tech companies, including AI chipmakers Nvidia, Alphabet's Google and Apple.

Big tech group backs Anthropic in fight with Pentagon over AI safeguards

A big tech industry group consisting of major Anthropic backers Amazon and Nvidia on Wednesday expressed concern over the Pentagon's decision to declare the artificial intelligence company a supply-chain risk as other investors raced to contain fallout from the lab's fight with the U.S. Defense Department. In a letter dated Wednesday, the Information Technology Industry Council, whose members include Nvidia, Amazon, Apple and OpenAI said, "We are concerned by recent reports regarding the Department of War's consideration of imposing a supply-chain risk designation in response to a procurement dispute." The letter does not name Anthropic. In recent days, CEO Dario Amodei has discussed the matter with some of Anthropic's major investors and partners, including Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, two of the people said. Venture capital firms including Lightspeed and Iconiq have also been in contact with Anthropic executives, two sources said.

Big Tech group tells Pentagon's Hegseth they are 'concerned' about Anthropic supply-chain risk designation

March 4 (Reuters) - A Big Tech industry group on Wednesday expressed concern to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth about his declaring AI company Anthropic a supply-chain risk, saying such a designation creates uncertainty for companies that could threaten the military's access to the best products and services. "We are concerned by recent reports regarding the Department of War's consideration of imposing a supply chain risk designation in response to a procurement dispute," the Information Technology Industry Council, whose members include Nvidia, Amazon.com and Apple, said in a letter dated Wednesday. The letter did not directly name Anthropic, instead focusing on the designation and its potential consequences. Last week, capping off a heated weeks-long dispute with Anthropic over technology guardrails on Claude tools used by the military, President Donald Trump announced a federal agency-wide ban on the company with a six-month phaseout period and Hegseth ordered Pentagon suppliers to purge Anthropic's prized AI tools from their supply chains. The letter, sent to Hegseth on Wednesday, also stated that the declaration threatens "to undermine the government's access to the best-in-class products and services from American companies that serve all agencies and components of the federal government," according to a copy seen by Reuters. The Department of Defense, which the Trump administration has renamed the Department of War, said it "will respond directly to the authors as appropriate," as it does with all correspondence. The letter is the first significant support Anthropic has received from the tech industry, a group of companies that includes its investors, suppliers and customers. In the letter, ITI CEO Jason Oxman said that contract disputes should be resolved through continued negotiation or selecting alternate providers through established channels. "Emergency authorities such as supply chain risk designations exist for genuine emergencies and are typically reserved for entities that have been designated as foreign adversaries," Oxman wrote. He said the department should work through the Federal Acquisition Security Council, which was created to evaluate risk in federal procurement, when considering whether private companies present legitimate supply chain risks. Many of the council's members have long partnered with the federal government and provide "mission-critical capabilities" to the Pentagon, Oxman added, suggesting the designation would be disruptive. "Our member companies strive to provide best-in-class solutions to meet the needs of U.S. departments and agencies," Oxman wrote in the letter, which was also copied to other parts of the government. "Removing parts of these solutions, as would be required based on recent reports, will be a complex endeavor." (Reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York; Editing by Chris Sanders and Matthew Lewis)