March 11 (Reuters) – A standoff erupted between the U.S. Department of Defense and Anthropic in January after the AI lab refused to loosen safety guardrails on its systems, prompting the Pentagon to label it a ‘supply-chain risk,’ and putting the company’s government contracts in jeopardy.
The Claude maker’s executives warned that the designation, which they view as retaliation for opposing the use of their technology in autonomous weapons and domestic surveillance, could slash their 2026 revenue by billions of dollars.
Legal experts suggest the government’s case may be undermined by a mismatch between the law invoked and Anthropic’s conduct, internal contradictions in the Pentagon’s behavior and evidence that its decision may have been driven by animus rather than security.
Here is a timeline of the ongoing conflict:
January 29 The Pentagon and Anthropic
clash over eliminating
safeguards that could allow
the government to use its
technology to target weapons
autonomously and conduct
U.S. domestic surveillance
February 11 The Pentagon pushes AI
companies, including
Anthropic, to make their AI
tools available in
classified settings without
many of the standard
restrictions that the
companies apply to other
users
February 14 The Pentagon considers
ending its ties with
Anthropic over the AI lab’s
insistence on keeping some
limits on how the U.S.
military uses its models
February 23 U.S. Defense Secretary Pete
Hegseth summons Anthropic
CEO Dario Amodei to the
Pentagon for talks on the
military use of Claude
February 24 The Pentagon asks Anthropic
to get on board, or risk
consequences, including
being labeled a supply-chain
risk
February 25 The Pentagon asks defense
contractors, including
Boeing and Lockheed Martin,
to assess their reliance on
Anthropic
February 26 Pentagon spokesperson Sean
Parnell asks Anthropic to
allow the Pentagon to use
its technology for all
lawful purposes, giving the
company until 5:01 p.m. ET
on February 27 to decide
February 26 Anthropic says it will not
accede to the Pentagon’s
request to eliminate
safeguards from its AI
systems
February 27 U.S. President Donald Trump
directs every federal agency
to immediately cease all use
of Anthropic’s technology
February 27 Hegseth directs the U.S. DoD
to designate Anthropic a
“supply-chain risk to
national security”
February 27 Anthropic says it will
challenge in court the
Pentagon’s decision
February 27 OpenAI announces deal to
deploy technology in the
DoD’s classified network
February 28 OpenAI says its latest
agreement with the Pentagon
includes three red lines:
its technology cannot be
used for mass domestic
surveillance, to direct
autonomous weapons systems
or for any high-stakes
automated decisions
March 2 The U.S. Departments of
State, Treasury and Health
and Human Services move to
cease using Anthropic’s
Claude
March 3 Lockheed Martin pledges to
follow the DoD’s direction,
signaling a likely exodus of
defense contractors removing
Anthropic’s tools from their
supply chains to protect
their federal contracts,
legal experts say
March 4 U.S. Treasury Secretary
Scott Bessent tells CNBC
that the agency will remove
Anthropic from its
government systems within
days
March 4 Big tech industry group
pushes to de-escalate the
clash, saying a supply-chain
risk designation creates
uncertainty for companies
and could threaten the
military’s access to the
best products and services
March 5 The U.S. DoD formally
designates Anthropic as a
supply-chain risk
March 6 Amazon says it is helping
customers transition DoD
workloads to alternative
models on its cloud, while
customers and partners
could continue using Claude
for all non‑Pentagon
workloads
March 6 The U.S. General Services
Administration draws up
strict rules for civilian
artificial-intelligence
contracts and terminates
Anthropic’s OneGov deal,
which made Claude available
to the federal government
March 9 Anthropic sues to block the
Pentagon from placing it on
a national security
blacklist, saying the
designation is unlawful and
violates its free speech and
due process rights
March 9 Anthropic executives say the
U.S. government’s
blacklisting of the AI firm
could cut its 2026 revenue
by multiple billions of
dollars and cause
reputational harm
March 10 Microsoft files a brief
backing Anthropic’s lawsuit,
saying the DoD designation
directly affects it and that
a temporary restraining
order is needed to avoid
costly supplier disruptions
and rushed rebuilding of
products that depend on
Anthropic
(Reporting by Anhata Rooprai in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
