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US Commerce chief says Anthropic back on ‘right side’ with Trump, Axios reports

By Thomson Reuters Sep 2, 2026 | 11:29 AM

By Courtney Rozen

WASHINGTON, Sept 2 (Reuters) – U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said AI giant ​Anthropic is “back on the right ‌side” with the Trump administration, Axios reported on Wednesday citing an interview.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had ‌blocked ​Anthropic from certain ⁠military contracts because the ⁠company refused to allow the U.S. to use its Claude AI models for domestic surveillance ​or autonomous weapons. Anthropic sued in California court.

On August 27, ⁠a U.S. judge ⁠sided with Anthropic in ​the company’s fight with the American ​military over AI safety on ‌the battlefield.

Anthropic and the Commerce Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from ⁠Reuters. Anthropic co-founder Tom Brown appeared on stage at a tech-focused G20 event ⁠in ‌North Carolina on Wednesday ⁠morning. Brown stressed the ​importance ‌of data centers at ​the gathering, ⁠urging the gathered officials to grant permits to build them in their countries.

(Reporting by Courtney Rozen; Editing by Mark Porter and ​David Gregorio)