The US government has added four more AI companies to its preferred supplier list, and the Department of Defense has agreements with Microsoft, Reflection AI (which has not yet released a publicly available model), Amazon, and Nvidia that mean their products can be used in classified operations. These companies join OpenAI, xAI, and Google as companies that the Department of Defense can deploy “for any lawful use.”
The phrase “any lawful use” has been at the center of a recent disagreement between Anthropic AI and the U.S. government, with CEO Darius Amodei claiming it would allow the U.S. government to use Anthropic’s technology to put U.S. civilians under surveillance and build autonomous weapons, and wanted to lock down areas of Anthropic’s use. The Pentagon canceled a $200 million contract with the company, a decision Anthropic quickly took to court, claiming millions of dollars in lost revenue from the government and parties affected by the government’s decision. The Trump administration called the company a “supply chain risk,” marking the first time a U.S.-based company has been given such a status. A subsequent statement from government sources described Anthropic as a “woke” company.
“The Department continues to build an architecture that prevents AI vendor lock-in and ensures long-term flexibility for the joint force,” a Pentagon statement about the new agreement said. The technology will “give warfighters the tools they need to act with confidence and protect the nation from all threats.” AI will be used for “impact level” use cases of 6 (sensitive data) and 7 (most sensitive materials) and will help build an “AI-first fighting force,” as described in the statement.
The current use of generative AI by the Department of Defense is primarily limited to unclassified tasks performed within various defense departments, such as drafting and summarizing documents, and research. The new supplier will also help the Defense Force “streamline data synthesis” as well as “improve situational understanding and enhance warfighter decision-making in complex operational environments.” It is unclear whether these descriptions include domestic deployments within U.S. borders.
The expansion of a large number of AI suppliers to the U.S. military and security forces means they will be more immune to apparent changes of heart by individual vendors that impact military and security operations. By expanding the technology base, the personal whims of individual corporate leaders become irrelevant. Google and Amazon have fired employees in the past for protesting the use of their technology in weapons and warfare.
Anthropic’s Claude AI is used for sensitive materials as part of Palantir’s Maven toolset, and a recent signer may replace that role. However, the company’s Mythos model is reportedly currently being used by the National Security Agency for what it calls the platform’s cyber warfare and defense capabilities. Globally, Anthropic’s Mythos is currently being evaluated by 40 organizations, but only 12 have been named, with the UK’s MI5 and the US NSA believed to be among the remaining 28 organizations.
According to Axios, the US government may be backtracking on recent public positions on anthropology. The website quoted White House officials as saying the administration was looking for ways to “save face and bring them back.” Anthropic’s Claude coding model is still used by the U.S. government’s security organizations and is said to have been used throughout recent events.
The White House said the U.S. government “continues to actively engage across government and industry to protect the country and the American people, including working with cutting-edge AI laboratories.”
(Image source: “BEST OF THE MARINE CORPS – May 2006 – Defense Visual Information Center” by Expertinfantry is licensed under CC BY 2.0. License.)
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