Pete Hegseth wants unfettered access to Anthropic's models for the military

"AI-enabled warfare and AI-enabled capability development will redefine the character of military affairs over the next decade. The US military must build on its lead over foreign adversaries to make soldiers more lethal and efficient, with the AI race fueled by the accelerating pace of innovation coming from the private sector."

"Anthropic has expressed particular concern about its models being used for lethal missions that do not have a human in the loop, arguing that state of the art AI models are not reliable enough to be trusted in those contexts. It had also pushed for new rules to govern the use of AI models for mass domestic surveillance."

"A decision to cut Anthropic from the defense department's supply chain would have significant ramifications for national security work and the company, which has a $200 million contract with the department. It would also have an impact on partners, including Palantir, that make use of Anthropic's models."

The Defense Production Act enables the administration to allocate materials and services for national defense, previously used during the pandemic and for critical mineral production. The Pentagon released an AI strategy emphasizing that AI-enabled warfare will redefine military affairs over the next decade, with officials stating the US military must maintain its technological lead and make soldiers more lethal and efficient. Anthropic has raised concerns about its AI models being used for lethal missions without human oversight, arguing current AI systems lack sufficient reliability for such applications. The company also advocated for new regulations governing AI use in mass domestic surveillance. Tensions between the Pentagon and Anthropic over these issues could affect the company's $200 million defense contract and impact partners like Palantir that utilize Anthropic's models.

Read at Ars Technica