As Pentagon Targets Anthropic, OpenAI Moves to Fill the Void
TL;DR
A rapid escalation of a dispute between Anthropic and the Department of Defense over military use of its AI models has threatened to cut off Anthropic from wide swathes of its customers, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth moved to declare Anthropic a “supply chain risk” on Friday. But the government’s threat to bar military contractors from any commercial relationship with Anthropic—which presumably would include its massive cloud partners Amazon, Google and Microsoft—will likely face a legal battle. Meanwhile, OpenAI appeared to have used the situation to negotiate its own deal with the Defense Department.
Nauti's Take
OpenAI didn't hesitate for a second — while Anthropic was still absorbing the blow, they signed their own deal. This isn't opportunism, it's a calculated play: whoever controls the safety narrative with government wins the contracts.
For AI builders, this is the clearest signal yet that government work is now as much about political positioning as it is about capability.
Summary
A rapid escalation of a dispute between Anthropic and the Department of Defense over military use of its AI models has threatened to cut off Anthropic from wide swathes of its customers, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth moved to declare Anthropic a “supply chain risk” on Friday. But the government’s threat to bar military contractors from any commercial relationship with Anthropic—which presumably would include its massive cloud partners Amazon, Google and Microsoft—will likely face a legal battle.
Meanwhile, OpenAI appeared to have used the situation to negotiate its own deal with the Defense Department.
Sources