The U.S. Department of Defense is reportedly considering designating AI startup Anthropic as a "supply chain risk" company. Placing a domestic company on that list would be an unusual move.
CNBC and The Wall Street Journal reported on the 18th (local time), citing senior officials at the Ministry of National Defense, that "Anthropic could be designated a supply chain risk if it does not agree to the Ministry of National Defense's policy."
If designated a supply chain risk company, every contract and supplier doing business with the Ministry of National Defense would have to confirm it does not use Anthropic's AI model, Claude. The system has typically been applied to corporations from adversarial countries such as China.
The dispute between the two sides erupted over the scope of AI's military use. The Ministry of National Defense argues it must be able to use AI models without restriction within legal bounds, while Anthropic believes it cannot allow its technology to be used for large-scale surveillance of its own citizens or fully autonomous lethal weapons.
Emile Michael, vice minister for research and engineering at the Ministry of National Defense, said, "We must be able to use the model for all lawful use cases," and noted, "If they don't accept that, it's a problem." The Ministry of National Defense said competitors such as OpenAI and xAI agreed to the related requirements.
Officials from the Trump administration have criticized Anthropic for supporting stronger regulation and pursuing so-called "woke" AI. The fact that Anthropic hired figures from the Biden administration is also cited as a source of conflict.
Meanwhile, during a recent $30 billion (about 43 trillion won) fundraising round, Anthropic reportedly asked 1789 Capital, a venture capital firm linked to the president's eldest son, to invest but was turned down. The firm was said to have decided not to participate due to executives' past political statements and support for regulation.