Hegseth threatens to cancel Anthropic’s $200 million contract over “woke AI” concerns

Source Domain: www.opb.org

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is planning to terminate Anthropic’s $200 million contract with the military by Friday unless the AI lab agrees to lower its safety standards.
During a meeting with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Hegseth’s stance was that the U.S. must be allowed to use AI in all “lawful” purposes, including AI-directed warfare and mass surveillance.
Anthropic has been resistant to these demands, insisting that domestic mass surveillance and AI-controlled weapons are unethical and prone to abuse.
Hegseth threatened to use the Defense Production Act or label Anthropic a “supply chain risk” if the company does not compromise on Trump administration’s demands.
Critics have labeled Anthropic’s safety policies as “woke AI,” a term used loosely by Trump officials to describe safety safeguards in powerful AI tools.
Competing AI firms like OpenAI, Google, and Elon Musk’s xAI have agreed to allow their tools to be used in any “lawful” scenarios.
The Pentagon awarded $200 million contracts to Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and xAI, but Anthropic was the first cleared for classified military use due to its advanced and secure models.

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