By Courtney Rozen and Karen Freifeld
5 Jun (Reuters) – A months-long dispute between officials in U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration and the company is showing signs of easing in parts of the U.S. government as the company prepares to go public, according to sources familiar with the relationship.
The relationship broke down earlier this year after Anthropic refused to allow the U.S. military to use its AI models for domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons systems, and the government retaliated by placing it on a national security blacklist, which is expected to take effect at the end of the year.
Study abroad
Upgrade your career!
In March, the US Department of Defense classified the company as a ‘supply chain risk’, the first time a US company has received that designation, normally reserved for companies linked to adversary nations. The label prevents tens of thousands of contractors from using Anthropic’s AI when working for the US military.
The relationship has improved since Anthropic Chief Executive Dario Amodei visited the White House in mid-April to discuss working together for the first time since the dispute began, although Anthropic is still challenging the supply chain risk designation in court.
The Defense Department is still “vigorously” defending itself against Anthropic’s lawsuit, said Franklin Turner, a lawyer specializing in government contracts. Any broader damage to the company’s business is unlikely to be alleviated until the department’s dispute with the company is resolved, he said.
Continues after advertising
Also read:
“Anytime the government signals that it’s washing its hands of a company, that’s a big problem for that company,” Turner said.
One of the biggest signs of an easing was symbolic, but important. The White House invited Amodei to the signing of an executive order on artificial intelligence planned by Trump for May 21, according to two sources familiar with the matter, although the event was later canceled due to Trump’s distaste for some of the executive order’s provisions.
Trump signed the decree on Tuesday; Anthropic, in a statement published on X, said it looked forward to ‘collaborating’ with the White House in implementing the order.
A White House spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about the administration’s relationship with Anthropic.
Anthropic’s press team declined to comment.
Continues after advertising
(Reporting by Courtney Rozen in Washington and Karen Freifeld in New York; Additional reporting by Jody Godoy in New York)
