this Pentagon San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company Anthropic has been embroiled in controversy over the agency’s use of the company’s flagship artificial intelligence model, Claude. The dispute, which involves Anthropic’s refusal to let the agency use Crowder for “all lawful purposes” without security restrictions, escalated as Pentagon officials said the agency may sever ties with the company and declare it a “supply chain risk” over the dispute.
A Pentagon official who spoke anonymously to Axios said the agency may cut ties with the company and declare it a supply chain risk, which would effectively mean that any company that does business with the Pentagon would not be able to have any business ties with Anthropic.
“It will be very painful to disentangle, and we will make sure they pay a price for forcing themselves on us like this,” the official told Axios, adding that the Pentagon was “close” to severing ties.
However, there are logistical issues with this decision, as Claude is currently the only AI model used in the project. U.S. military classification system and is widely praised for its effectiveness. Replacing it with another would require the Pentagon to sign new contracts with companies that can be as efficient as Crowder.
In fact, effectiveness appears to be a bigger issue in this regard, as other competing AI models such as xAI, OpenAI, and Google have agreed to remove safety measures but are still not used in the military.
How the Pentagon’s Cutoff Affects Humanity
The potential severance package itself would only have a minor impact on Anthropic. Axios reported that the deal would bring in about $200 million in annual revenue, which is barely a fraction of its $14 billion in annual revenue. However, declaring it a “supply chain risk” could have an impact on the company, as it could lead to other companies canceling partnerships.
Most importantly, War Department officials showed no signs of backing down, although Anthropic said negotiations were moving in a “productive” direction.
“The War Department’s relationship with Anthropic is under review,” a War Department spokesman said. “Our nation demands that our partners be willing to help our warfighters win in any fight. Ultimately, this is about the safety of our troops and the American people.”
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What the controversy is about: explained
The dispute, which concerns the terms of the military’s use of Cloud, remains unresolved despite months of meetings between humans and Pentagon officials. While the agency wants unrestricted use for “all lawful purposes,” Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei expressed concerns about surveillance and invasion of privacy.
According to Axios, Anthropic hopes the terms in the contract will prevent the agency and the military from conducting mass surveillance Or develop weapons that can be fired without human involvement.
Designating a company as a “supply chain risk” is an important step typically reserved for foreign business counterparties. It seems that at some point, concessions have to be made, as officials admit that other AI models are “just lagging behind” when it comes to handling specialized military operations.
