Pentagon's Chief Technology Officer: Claude will pollute the defense supply chain

Investing.com — U.S. Department of Defense Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael said Thursday that Anthropic’s Claude AI model will pollute the agency’s supply chain because these models have built-in different policy preferences.

Michael told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the Department of Defense “cannot allow a company that has embedded different policy biases into its models through its charter, soul, and policy preferences to pollute the supply chain, leading our warfighters to receive ineffective weapons, ineffective body armor, and ineffective protection.” He added that this is the basis for supply chain risk designation.

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The startup filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration earlier this week, claiming the government’s actions are unprecedented and illegal. Anthropic stated in a document that the company is suffering irreparable damage, and contracts worth billions of dollars are at risk.

Michael countered these allegations, saying the move is not intended to punish. He added that Anthropic has a large commercial business, and revenue from the U.S. government accounts for only a small portion. Michael also dismissed Anthropic’s claim that the government actively contacted companies and told them not to use Anthropic, calling such claims rumors.

Anthropic is the first U.S. company publicly labeled with a supply chain risk tag. This designation will require defense contractors and suppliers to prove they do not use Claude when working with the Pentagon.

Michael stated that the Department of Defense will not proactively contact companies to tell them what to do, as long as they are not in the agency’s supply chain, he added.

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