Washington DC [US], February 27 (ANI): The U.S. Department of War (DOW) publicly condemned Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei after the company refused to remove certain safety restrictions on its artificial intelligence systems for military use.
DOW Under Secretary Emil Michael accused Amodei of attempting to exert undue control over military decisions and attacked his credibility and motives. Michael posted on X that Amodei is “a liar” with a “God complex,” alleging the CEO sought to personally control the U.S. military and was willing to jeopardize national safety. “The @DeptofWar will ALWAYS adhere to the law but not bend to whims of any one for-profit tech company,” Michael wrote.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell pushed back on suggestions that the Department intended to use AI illegally. In a post on X, Parnell said the DOW has no desire to employ AI for mass domestic surveillance (which he noted is illegal) or to develop weapons that operate without human involvement. He described reports that painted a different picture as a false narrative spread by critics in the media.
Parnell characterized the Department’s request to Anthropic as narrow: permission to use the company’s model for “all lawful purposes,” a measure he called a straightforward, common-sense safeguard to prevent disruptions to military operations. He warned that the DOW would not allow any company to dictate how operational decisions are made. Parnell said Anthropic had until 5:01 PM ET on Friday to accept the terms; otherwise the Department would terminate the partnership and label Anthropic a supply chain risk to the DOW.
Anthropic responded that it will not permit certain uses of its AI, including mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons, citing concerns about democratic values and the current reliability of advanced AI systems. The company said the DOW had pressured it to accept “any lawful use” of its technology and to remove specific safeguards, a request Anthropic rejected.
In a statement, Anthropic said the Department had threatened to remove the company from its systems if it maintained safeguards, to designate it a “supply chain risk” — a label the company said is normally reserved for foreign adversaries and never before applied to an American firm — and to invoke the Defense Production Act to compel removal of those safeguards. Anthropic noted the contradiction in those threats, saying one action casts the company as a security risk while the other treats its model as essential to national security.
“Regardless, these threats do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience accede to their request,” Anthropic said, while adding that it remains willing to support U.S. national security efforts provided necessary safety measures stay in place.
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