Feb 17, 2026 13:51:00

The Department of Defense is considering designating Anthropic as a 'supply chain risk' and asking contractors to stop doing business with the company.

The Pentagon's relationship with Anthropic has deteriorated over the military use of AI , and it has now emerged that the Pentagon is considering not just severing ties with the company but also designating the company as a 'supply chain risk,' a designation that would normally be reserved for a foreign adversary.

Pentagon threatens to label Anthropic's AI a 'supply chain risk'
https://www.axios.com/2026/02/16/anthropic-defense-department-relationship-hegseth

Pentagon officials threaten to blacklist Anthropic over its military chatbot policies - SiliconANGLE
https://siliconangle.com/2026/02/16/pentagon-officials-threaten-blacklist-anthropic-military-chatbot-policies/

While AI companies have regulations prohibiting the military use of AI, the Department of Defense has been pressuring them to allow its use for operational planning, weapons development, surveillance, etc. Anthropic, however, refused to comply with the Department of Defense's wishes, and after months of negotiations, no agreement was reached, leading the Department of Defense to begin severing its relationship with Anthropic.

Department of Defense considers terminating relationship with Anthropic over military use of AI - GIGAZINE

According to news site Axios, Pentagon officials are taking a tougher stance against Anthropic, considering designating the company a 'supply chain risk,' a designation typically reserved for foreign adversaries. A designation like this would bar companies from doing business with the Pentagon and require companies doing business with the Pentagon to prove they aren't using Anthropic's services, such as Claude, in their workflows.

Anthropic is the only AI company with a contract with the U.S. military, and it enjoys a privileged position. While Anthropic's annual revenue is around $14 billion (approximately ¥2.14 trillion), its military contract is only worth $200 million over two years, which is not a significant proportion, if the Department of Defense successfully uses 'threats,' it could potentially cause existing deals to fall through.

A Department of Defense spokesperson told Axios, 'We continue to evaluate AI partnerships. We look to our partners to help us win any fight.'

According to Axios, following the Pentagon's tough stance on Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and xAI have agreed to remove safeguards when using AI in non-classified military systems, but sources say the technology has not yet been used for highly classified tasks, and the three companies have yet to reach an agreement on the details.