Pete Hegseth threatens to cut Anthropic from Pentagon supply chain in showdown with CEO
Financial Times
February 24, 2026
AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary
Pete Hegseth, head of the Pentagon's supply chain division, has escalated a high-stakes showdown with Anthropic, an AI startup, by threatening to cut ties between the company and the Department of Defense over its attempts to restrict military access to its technology. In a move that has sparked intense debate, Dario Amodei, Anthropic’s CEO, was summoned to Washington following reports that the firm sought to limit how the Pentagon could use its AI tools, raising concerns about national security and technological control.
The situation arises amid growing tensions between the U.S. government and AI developers over the ethical and practical implications of advanced technology in military applications. While Anthropic claims its stance is driven by ethical considerations—similar to OpenAI’s restrictions on sensitive AI models—the Pentagon views such actions as an unnecessary obstacle to national security
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Originally published on Financial Times on 2/24/2026