Anthropic said Thursday that \u201cvirtually no progress\u201d had been made in the company\u2019s talks with the Pentagon over the terms of use for its AI models ahead of a Friday afternoon deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Department of Defense (DOD) delivered its last and final offer to the company on Wednesday night, asking the firm to allow the department to access its AI model Claude for \u201call lawful purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is unclear what changes the Pentagon has proposed as part of its latest offer to the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe contract language we received overnight from the Department of War made virtually no progress on preventing Claude\u2019s use for mass surveillance of Americans or in fully autonomous weapons,\u201d an Anthropic spokesperson told The Hill in a statement Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNew language framed as compromise was paired with legalese that would allow those safeguards to be disregarded at will,\u201d they added. \u201cDespite DOW\u2019s recent public statements, these narrow safeguards have been the crux of our negotiations for months.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pentagon has threatened to cancel Anthropic\u2019s contract if it does not agree to the department\u2019s terms by Friday afternoon. The AI firm was one of several companies that received a $200 million contract with the DOD last summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anthropic\u2019s usage policy bars its AI model from being used for mass surveillance or lethal autonomous weapons. These two issues have been the company\u2019s red lines in its weeks-long negotiations with the Pentagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amid this dispute, the DOD has also threatened to label Anthropic as a \u201csupply chain risk\u201d and to invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) against the company. The DPA gives the president broad authority to control domestic industries in the name of national defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pentagon has raised the pressure in recent days, reaching out to defense contractors about their reliance on Anthropic\u2019s Claude in what appears to be an initial step toward labeling the company a supply chain risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei accused the DOD of \u201cinherently contradictory threats\u201d in negotiations with the the AI giant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRegardless, these threats do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience accede to their request,\u201d Amodei said in a lengthy statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is the Department\u2019s prerogative to select contractors most aligned with their vision,\u201d he added. \u201cBut given the substantial value that Anthropic\u2019s technology provides to our armed forces, we hope they reconsider. Our strong preference is to continue to serve the Department and our warfighters\u2014with our two requested safeguards in place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pentagon said earlier Thursday that it has \u201cno interest in using AI to conduct mass surveillance of Americans (which is illegal) nor do we want to use AI to develop autonomous weapons that operate without human involvement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHere\u2019s what we\u2019re asking: Allow the Pentagon to use Anthropic\u2019s model for all lawful purposes,\u201d Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesperson wrote in a post on the social platform X. \u201cThis is a simple, common-sense request that will prevent Anthropic from jeopardizing critical military operations and potentially putting our warfighters at risk. We will not let ANY company dictate the terms regarding how we make operational decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pentagon\u2019s latest proposal, which came less than 48 hours before the proposed deadline, included some of Anthropic\u2019s suggested language around narrow exceptions to the autonomous and surveillance provisions, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Hill on Thursday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But substantively, the DOD offer reverts to permitting any lawful use while adding qualifiers where they see fit to the autonomy provision and all other applicable guidelines to the surveillance provision, the source briefed on the talks said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The source argued that the additions are made to look like concessions, but they ultimately give the other side the ability sideline restrictions whenever necessary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They also accused the Pentagon of strategically leaking information to news outlets to make it appear to be engaging in good-faith negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n