Anthropic and the Pentagon Need Real Alignment on AI: Editorial

Consider it a preview of strange quandaries to come.

In July, Anthropic PBC signed a deal with the Defense Department worth up to $200 million, calling it “a new chapter” in its “commitment to supporting US national security.” The Pentagon was equally keen. Eight months later, the partnership has ruptured, the contract is at risk, the White House has labeled Anthropic with its gravest epithet (“woke”), and defense officials have threatened to designate the company a “supply chain risk.”

What went wrong? Welcome to defense contracting in the artificial intelligence era.

Anthropic has been providing the Pentagon with a specialized ...