Anthropic engages with Trump administration despite Pentagon supply-chain risk designation

Anthropic is engaging with high-level Trump administration officials despite the Pentagon's recent designation of the AI company as a supply-chain risk, signaling a potential thaw in relations. The company's CEO Dario Amodei met last week with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. The White House described the session as a "productive and constructive" introductory meeting that covered opportunities for collaboration and protocols for scaling AI technology. Anthropic confirmed the discussion with senior administration officials focused on "how Anthropic and the U.S. government can work together on key shared priorities such as cybersecurity, America's lead in the AI race, and AI safety." The company said it looks forward to continuing the talks. The engagement comes amid a separate dispute with the Defense Department, which declared Anthropic a supply-chain risk earlier this year. That label, typically reserved for foreign adversaries, could severely restrict government use of Anthropic's models. The company is challenging the designation in court. Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark has characterized the Pentagon conflict as a "narrow contracting dispute" that won't affect the company's willingness to brief the government on its latest models. The disagreement reportedly stems from failed negotiations over military use of Anthropic's technology, with the company seeking to maintain safeguards against deployment in fully autonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance. According to administration sources speaking to Axios, "every agency" except the Department of Defense wants to use Anthropic's technology. Earlier signs of warming relations included reports that Treasury Secretary Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell encouraged major banks to test Anthropic's new Mythos model. The contrasting positions within the administration highlight ongoing tensions over AI governance and military applications, even as the White House seeks productive engagement with leading domestic AI developers.