Washington, D.C. — In the Trump administration’s latest misuse of power, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is threatening to destroy one of America’s newest and most valuable companies if it won’t agree to the Pentagon’s unreasonable demands.
A new analysis from the Center for American Progress argues that the administration’s coercion and threats against Anthropic are unacceptable and unprecedented. The Pentagon insists on using Anthropic’s Claude AI tools without restrictions, after signing a contract that agreed to them. However, the company refuses to allow its products to be used for mass domestic surveillance or for autonomous weapons systems without human oversight.
At stake is whether an American company can set terms of service for its own products—or whether this administration gets to decide otherwise. Hegseth warns that if Anthropic doesn’t bow to the administration’s requests, it faces being labeled a supply chain risk—facing financial ruin—or forced into compliance under the Defense Production Act.
These are inherently opposing positions. Anthropic’s AI tools are either such a risk to national security that they must be removed from the Pentagon and its suppliers or they are so essential to national security that the Pentagon can’t fulfill its mission without them. But they cannot be both.
The analysis calls for Congress to step in, recognizing that the need is real for true AI safeguards and prohibited uses. The Senate and House Armed Services Committees should immediately convene hearings on the Pentagon’s threats and raise questions about this strategy.
Read the analysis: “The Trump Administration Is Trying to Make an Example of the AI Giant Anthropic” by Adam Conner
For more information, or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].