President Donald Trump has ordered every US government agency to “immediately cease” using AI systems developed by Anthropic.

In a lengthy Truth Social post, the President called the company "Leftwing nut jobs" after Anthropic declined to change its terms of service to allow mass domestic surveillance and support fully autonomous weapons.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth added that the company will be designated a Supply-Chain Risk to National Security. "Effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic," Hegseth said.

AI fallout

In February, the Wall Street Journal revealed that the Department of Defense (DoD) used Anthropic's Claude during its operation to kidnap Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela, as part of a $200 million DoD contract.

While the DoD (stylized as the Department of War) has similar contracts with Google Gemini, OpenAI, and Elon Musk's xAI, Anthropic was the first to be used in a classified operation by the DoD and the most widely used.

However, the company's terms of service prohibit users - including the DoD - from using Claude for mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. This week, Hegseth met with CEO Dario Amodei and demanded that the two limitations be removed.

Hegseth threatened to use the Defense Production Act, a Cold War-era law that could allow the military to commandeer control of a company or its products for national security. Traditionally focused on manufacturing, it is not clear how the law would apply to a software business.

Following the meeting, Amodei this Thursday said that the company would not waver in its stance. "These threats do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience accede to their request," Amodei said.

He added that "such use cases have never been included in our contracts with the Department of War, and we believe they should not be included now... Should the Department choose to offboard Anthropic, we will work to enable a smooth transition to another provider."

In response, President Trump said that the company had "made a DISASTROUS MISTAKE trying to STRONG-ARM the Department of War, and force them to obey their Terms of Service instead of our Constitution."

He continued: “Therefore, I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology.

"There will be a Six Month phase out period for Agencies like the Department of War who are using Anthropic’s products, at various levels. Anthropic better get their act together, and be helpful during this phase-out period, or I will use the Full Power of the Presidency to make them comply, with major civil and criminal consequences to follow."

On X, Hegseth echoed Trump's comments. He added: "Anthropic’s stance is fundamentally incompatible with American principles."

Anthropic does not appear to have violated any Federal laws. Earlier today, workers at OpenAI and Google signed a letter of support for Anthropic's stance.

Google DeepMind chief scientist Jeff Dean said: "Mass surveillance violates the Fourth Amendment and has a chilling effect on freedom of expression. Surveillance systems are prone to misuse for political or discriminatory purposes."