Now, the Pentagon appears to be pushing those boundaries.<\/p>\n
Hints of a possible rift between Anthropic and the Defense Department, now rebranded the Department of War, began to intensify after The Wall Street Journal<\/a> and Axios<\/a> reported the use of Anthropic products in the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. <\/p>\n It is unclear how Anthropic\u2019s Claude was used.<\/p>\n Anthropic has not raised or found any violations of its policies in the wake of the Maduro operation, according to two people familiar with the matter, who asked to remain anonymous in order to discuss sensitive topics. They said that the company has high visibility into how its AI tool Claude is used, such as in data analysis operations.<\/p>\n Anthropic was the first AI company allowed to offer services on classified networks, via Palantir, which partnered with it in 2024. Palantir said in an announcement<\/a> of the partnership that Claude could be used \u201cto support government operations such as processing vast amounts of complex data rapidly\u201d and \u201chelping U.S. officials to make more informed decisions in time-sensitive situations.\u201d<\/p>\n Palantir is one of the military\u2019s favored<\/a> data and software<\/a> contractors, for example collecting data from space sensors to provide better strike targeting<\/a> for soldiers. It has also attracted scrutiny for its work under the Trump administration and law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n Though Anthropic has maintained that it does not and will not allow its AI systems<\/a> to be directly used in lethal autonomous weapons or for domestic surveillance<\/a>, the reported use of its technology related to the Venezuela raid through the contract with Palantir<\/a> allegedly raised concerns<\/a> from an Anthropic employee. <\/p>\n Semafor<\/a> reported Tuesday that, during a routine meeting between Anthropic and Palantir, a Palantir executive was worried that an Anthropic employee did not seem to agree with how its systems might have been used in the operation, leading to \u201ca rupture in Anthropic\u2019s relationship with the Pentagon.\u201d <\/p>\n A senior Pentagon official told NBC News that \u201ca senior executive from Anthropic communicated with a senior Palantir executive, inquiring as to whether their software was used for the Maduro raid.\u201d <\/p>\n According to the Pentagon official, the Palantir executive \u201cwas alarmed that the question was raised in such a way to imply that Anthropic might disapprove of their software being used during that raid.\u201d<\/p>\n Citing the classified nature of military operations, an Anthropic spokesperson would neither confirm nor deny that its Claude chatbot systems had been used in the Maduro operation: \u201cWe cannot comment on whether Claude, or any other AI model, was used for any specific operation, classified or otherwise,\u201d the spokesperson told NBC News in a statement.<\/p>\n The spokesperson pushed back on the idea that the incident had caused notable fallout, telling NBC News the company had not held out-of-the-ordinary discussions about Claude usage with partners or shared any mission-related disagreements with the military.<\/p>\n \u201cAnthropic has not discussed the use of Claude for specific operations with the Department of War,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cWe have also not discussed this with, or expressed concerns to, any industry partners outside of routine discussions on strictly technical matters.\u201d<\/p>\n Palantir did not reply to a request for comment.<\/p>\n The core tension between Anthropic and the Defense Department appears to be rooted in a broader clash over the military\u2019s future use of Anthropic\u2019s systems. The Defense Department has recently emphasized its desire to be able to use all available AI systems for any purpose allowed by law<\/a>, while Anthropic says it wants to maintain its own guardrails.<\/p>\n Chief spokesman for the Pentagon Sean Parnell told NBC News that \u201cThe Department of War\u2019s relationship with Anthropic is being reviewed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur nation requires that our partners be willing to help our warfighters win in any fight,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, this is about our troops and the safety of the American people.\u201d On Tuesday, Undersecretary of Defense Emil Michael said that the department\u2019s negotiations with Anthropic had hit a snag over a disagreement over potential uses of its systems, according to CNBC<\/a>. <\/p>\n In early January, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth released a new AI strategy document<\/a> that called for any contracts with AI companies to eliminate company-specific guardrails or constraints on how the military can use companies\u2019 AI systems, newly allowing \u201cany lawful use\u201d of AI for Defense Department purposes. <\/p>\n The document called for defense officials to incorporate this language into any Defense Department AI contract within 180 days, which would implicate Anthropic\u2019s dealings with the military. <\/p>\n While Anthropic has broadly supported the use of its services for national security purposes, it has maintained<\/a> that its systems not be used for domestic surveillance or in fully autonomous weapons. <\/p>\n The Defense Department has balked at Anthropic\u2019s insistence on these two issues and applied increasing pressure to the company.<\/p>\n \u201cClaude is used for a wide variety of intelligence-related use cases across the government, including the Department of War, in line with our Usage Policy,\u201d the Anthropic spokesperson said. \u201cWe are having productive conversations, in good faith, with the Department of War on how to continue that work and get these complex issues right.\u201d<\/p>\n Relative to other AI companies, Anthropic has prioritized enterprise and national security applications of its AI systems. In August 2025, Anthropic formed a national security and public sector advisory council composed of former senior defense and intelligence officials and last week added Chris Lidell<\/a>, President Donald Trump\u2019s former deputy chief of staff, to its board of directors.<\/p>\n Anthropic has partnered with Palantir<\/a> since late 2024 to provide U.S. defense and intelligence agencies with access to various Claude systems. At the time, Anthropic\u2019s head of sales and partnerships, Kate Earle Jensen, said the company was \u201cproud to be at the forefront of bringing responsible AI solutions to U.S. classified environments, enhancing analytical capabilities and operational efficiencies in vital government operations.\u201d<\/p>\n Anthropic, along with other leading American AI companies such as OpenAI and Google, signed individual two-year contracts<\/a> with the Defense Department in July 2025, each worth up to $200 million to help \u201cprototype frontier AI capabilities that advance U.S. national security.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnthropic is committed to using frontier AI in support of US national security,\u201d the Anthropic spokesperson told NBC News in a statement. \u201cWe were the first frontier AI company to put our models on classified networks and the first to provide customized models for national security customers.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Anthropic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/250523-anthropic-mn-1530-6cadda.jpg\")
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, right, and Chief Product Officer Mike Krieger talk after unveiling Claude 4 during the Code with Claude conference May 22, 2025, in San Francisco.Don Feria \/ AP Content Services for Anthropic<\/p>\n