Source: The Bulwark
by Andrew Egger
“While the Pentagon has contracts with all the leading AI labs, Anthropic until this month was the only one contracted for AI use in classified settings: Claude was, for instance, reportedly involved in the operation to capture Nicolas Maduro. But Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has grown unhappy with two elements of the DoD’s contract with Anthropic. One, Anthropic won’t let its AI be used to conduct mass surveillance of Americans. Two, it won’t let the DoD use it to operate autonomous weapons systems that can identify, track, and kill targets without direct human involvement. To the Defense Department, the idea that a contractor would be able to tie the military’s hands like this is outlandish …. Hegseth could simply drop Anthropic’s contract over this …. But he doesn’t really want to …. So instead, Hegseth has issued Anthropic an ultimatum: Change your policy, or we’re going to start getting nasty.” (02/26/26)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/ai-death-machines-no-human-oversight-hegseth-anthropic-claude-military