Congress rips Pentagon over "sophomoric" Anthropic fight
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Sen. Thom Tillis at a Capitol Hill hearing on Feb. 12. Photo: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Democratic senators — and at least one Republican — are urging the Pentagon to withdraw its ultimatum to Anthropic, insisting Congress must participate in the debate over military use of artificial intelligence.
Why it matters: The unprecedented showdown between the Department of Defense and Anthropic has largely been a two-party contest. Now Congress wants to enter the fray.
- "Why in the hell are we having this discussion in public?" Sen. Thom Tillis told Axios. "Why isn't this occurring in a boardroom or in the secretary's office? I mean, this is sophomoric."
- "It's fair to say that Congress needs to weigh in if they have a tool that could actually result in mass surveillance," Tillis, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said.
- "The deadline is incredibly tight," Sen. Gary Peters told Axios. "That should not be the case if you're dealing with mass surveillance of civilians. You're also dealing with the potential use of lethal force without a human in the loop."
- "There's a contract in place that was signed with the administration, and now they're trying to break it," Peters added.
Driving the news: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Thursday said there has been "virtually no progress" in negotiations with the Pentagon, which set a deadline of Friday at 5:01 pm to use its model Claude as it sees fit.
- On Tuesday, Hegseth informed Amodei that he would declare the company a "supply chain risk" if it doesn't comply. That would essentially blacklist the company.
- The Pentagon could also invoke the Defense Production Act, which would force the company to tailor its model to the military's needs.
The intrigue: Before Amodei's statement, some senators were optimistic the two sides would reach an agreement.
- "I think that's going to be resolved," said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
- "If Anthropic doesn't choose to follow this business plan, there are other sources," Wicker said.
Zoom out: The tension between the Pentagon and its main AI supplier has escalated quickly.
- Hegseth is prepared to punish Anthropic as the feud over AI safeguards grows increasingly nasty. But officials are also worried about the consequences of losing access to its industry-leading model, Claude.
- On Wednesday, the Pentagon began sounding out major defense contractors about how much they rely on Claude — a clear sign the Pentagon is serious about potentially designating Anthropic a supply chain risk.
Zoom in: Many Democrats are deeply skeptical about giving the Pentagon unfettered access to Anthropic's Claude code without congressional oversight.
- "DOD is trying to strong-arm Anthropic into providing every tool they have to surveil U.S. citizens," said Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
- "I have serious concerns about that. That's unconstitutional. That's not the role of the Department of Defense."
The bottom line: Lawmakers are essentially making two demands: First, stay the Friday ultimatum. And Congress should work with the administration and the AI industry to develop clear rules of the road.
- "If we need more time, we need more time. These are fundamental issues of our time," Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) told Axios.
- "This is happening because Congress has not put clear limits — left or right — on the use of AI in lethal weapon systems."
