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The United States Department of Defence has confirmed it has stopped using artificial intelligence products made by Anthropic, according to a statement given to the BBC, bringing an end to a months-long controversy over the company's role in military and intelligence operations. A department official said the Pentagon "has ceased the use of Anthropic products," though the timing and full details of the withdrawal had not previously been reported.
The decision follows a February announcement by Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, who designated Anthropic a supply chain risk on national security grounds and said the Pentagon would phase out its use of the company's tools by late August. Hegseth publicly criticised Anthropic's chief executive, Dario Amodei, as the dispute escalated.
However, multiple people familiar with the matter told the BBC that Anthropic's Claude model was still being used by the department as recently as last week. According to these sources, Claude remained in service for research, analysis and intelligence gathering, and was also employed in military operations against Iran. The model was described as a critical tool for processing and sorting through vast quantities of information.
Those familiar with the situation include former US defence officials and contractors who have worked closely with the Pentagon on artificial intelligence matters. Several spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. A spokesman for Anthropic declined to comment when asked about the Pentagon's statement.
Anthropic's tools had been used by the US government and military since 2024, making it the first advanced AI company to have its products deployed in government agencies carrying out classified work. The relationship unravelled earlier this year when the Pentagon pressed Anthropic to remove safety guardrails from Claude and provide the military with unfettered access to its AI capabilities.
Anthropic refused, citing concerns about mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. In response, Hegseth designated the company a "national security supply-chain risk," a legal classification typically reserved for firms based in countries considered hostile to the United States. Anthropic described the move as "unprecedented and unlawful" and has sued the Trump administration in an effort to overturn the designation. A judge subsequently ruled that the Trump administration had illegally retaliated against the company.
As the legal battle has unfolded in the courts, the Pentagon has signed contracts with other major technology companies, including Google, xAI and OpenAI. According to two people familiar with AI use in the defence department, OpenAI's tools have been more widely adopted in recent months across some military departments.
The Pentagon's statement on Monday came in response to a question from the BBC about its ongoing use of Anthropic, after multiple people said in interviews that Claude was still being widely deployed. Sources said the model was embedded in a larger data platform used by the department known as the Maven Smart System.
Maven, which is operated by Palantir, serves as the Pentagon's primary platform for organising intelligence and other data. Palantir is a leading defence technology firm founded by Peter Thiel, a billionaire ally of President Donald Trump. According to sources familiar with how the technology is used, analysts and defence officials rely on Maven to access and organise visual data, including satellite imagery and drone footage.
That data was then fed into Claude and other large language models for tasks such as identifying potential military targets. Officials frequently used the technology when compiling one-page briefs passed up the chain of command, according to a source who was given a demonstration of Maven by Palantir earlier this year.
Lauren Kahn, a senior research analyst at Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology, said that because Claude was deeply integrated into Maven, removing it quickly would have been difficult. "The fact that it took the Pentagon until now to remove all use of Claude from across the system is indicative that these things are not just plug and play," she said. Kahn, a former US defence official, added that once such tools become integrated, "it can be painful to remove them."
When Hegseth initially ordered Anthropic to be phased out of government use, "there was concern with moving beyond Anthropic to OpenAI" and other tools, according to a former senior US defence official. Hegseth set a six-month deadline to phase out Anthropic on 27 February, one day before the US and Israel attacked Iran.
Pentagon employees continued to use Anthropic's Claude tools, including its powerful Mythos models, "throughout the whole period of the controversy" with the company, one person said. Claude was used in particular for intelligence gathering and analysis, including through Palantir's Maven system, several sources said.
The end of Anthropic's use by the Pentagon marks the conclusion of a tense chapter in the relationship between the US military and the AI industry. It also highlights the growing reliance of defence agencies on commercial AI systems, and the difficulties that arise when those relationships break down. The episode has raised broader questions about how quickly and safely such deeply embedded technologies can be replaced, particularly when they are woven into critical intelligence and operational workflows.
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