Pentagon Strikes Deal With Top AI Companies Following Anthropic Fight

Pentagon Strikes Deal With Top AI Companies Following Anthropic Fight

The Defense Department on Friday announced it has struck agreements with seven of the world's top AI companies following its heated public battle with Anthropic.

The companies that have agreed "to deploy their advanced AI capabilities on the Department's classified networks for lawful operational use" include SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, NVIDIA, Reflection, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services, the department said.

"These agreements accelerate the transformation toward establishing the United States military as an AI-first fighting force and will strengthen our warfighters' ability to maintain decision superiority across all domains of warfare," the Pentagon said in a statement.

The Wall Street Journal noted that the agreement demonstrates that many AI giants were able to overcome concerns raised by Anthropic, which prompted its fight with the department.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei "an ideological lunatic who shouldn't have a sole decision-making over what we do" during a Senate hearing Thursday.

The Pentagon labeled Anthropic a "supply chain risk," prompting the company to sue the department over the designation.

Amodei has since visited the White House to meet with top administration officials in recognition of the company's powerful AI models.