Over the past few days, Anthropic, a leading AI startup, has been in the limelight for refusing to allow the Department of War to use its Claude models for military applications. Specifically, Anthropic mentioned that its models should not be used for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. The Department of War has confirmed that it will only contract with AI companies that agree to “any lawful use” and remove safeguards like those mentioned above.
Yesterday, the issue escalated further when Secretary of War Pete Hegseth decided to designate Anthropic as a “supply chain risk,” which would block Anthropic from signing any military-related contracts. Anthropic responded to this escalation, stating that this designation is legally unsound and sets a dangerous precedent for any American company that negotiates with the government.
Here is the statement from Anthropic on the issue:
"No amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War will change our position on mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. We will challenge any supply chain risk designation in court."
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has now confirmed that OpenAI has reached an agreement with the Department of War that would allow it to use OpenAI"s models in its classified network. Altman also confirmed that the DoW agreed with OpenAI"s principles of prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems.
OpenAI is also planning to build technical safeguards to make sure its models behave as they should and will deploy its own engineers at the DoW to help with its models.
Tonight, we reached an agreement with the Department of War to deploy our models in their classified network.
— Sam Altman (@sama) February 28, 2026
In all of our interactions, the DoW displayed a deep respect for safety and a desire to partner to achieve the best possible outcome.
AI safety and wide distribution of…
It is still not clear why Anthropic refused to sign an agreement with the same principles as OpenAI, as the details of the agreement have not yet been made public. Senior official Jeremy Lewin clarified on X why OpenAI was able to sign the agreement while Anthropic couldn’t.
For the avoidance of doubt, the OpenAI - @DeptofWar contract flows from the touchstone of “all lawful use” that DoW has rightfully insisted upon & xAI agreed to. But as Sam explained, it references certain existing legal authorities and includes certain mutually agreed upon… https://t.co/boVlh5kgfc
— Senior Official Jeremy Lewin (@UnderSecretaryF) February 28, 2026
This standoff highlights the growing tension between Silicon Valley’s ethical frameworks and the federal government’s national security requirements.