President Donald Trump ordered all federal agencies to cease using technology made by Anthropic, he said in a Truth Social post on Feb. 27.

This development followed escalating negotiations this week between Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who ordered his Department of War to designate the company a supply-chain risk to national security, he said in a statement on Feb. 27 after Trump’s announcement.

After Hegseth’s comments, Anthropic said it would challenge the supply risk designation in court. “We have tried in good faith to reach an agreement with the Department of War, making clear that we support all lawful uses of AI for national security aside from [mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons],” the company stated.

The Pentagon had previously asked the company, which makes the AI chatbot Claude, to allow greater use of its artificial intelligence (AI) models for the U.S. military, setting a Feb. 27 at 5 p.m. deadline for Anthropic to agree to terms, but Trump’s announcement came about an hour before that.

Anthropic had refused to allow the military to use the technology for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons, which identify and engage targets without human intervention.

“The United States of America will never allow a radical left, woke company to dictate how our great military fights and wins wars!” Trump wrote in all caps in his post.

“The Leftwing nut jobs at Anthropic have made a DISASTROUS MISTAKE trying to STRONG-ARM the Department of War.”

Hegseth also accused Anthropic of trying to seize veto power over operational decisions within the U.S. military. He said the company put on “a master class in arrogance and betrayal as well as a textbook case of how not to do business with the United States Government or the Pentagon.”

The Pentagon’s position never wavered, Hegseth said on X, adding that the War Department “must have full, unrestricted access to Anthropic’s models for every LAWFUL purpose in defense of the Republic.”

“Anthropic’s stance is fundamentally incompatible with American principles,” Hegseth said. “Their relationship with the United States Armed Forces and the Federal Government has therefore been permanently altered.

“Effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic.”

Amodei had said he “cannot in good conscience accede to [the Pentagon’s] request.”

He issued a statement on Feb. 26, declining to adhere to the Department of War’s terms.

Hegseth also had warned that the department would designate Anthropic as a supply chain risk or invoke a Cold War-era law, the Defense Production Act, to force the company to comply if it did not agree.

The law grants the federal government wide authority over private companies to order them to comply with national defense needs.

Amodei said there were two red lines at issue in the proposed agreement: domestic mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons.

The first, he said, undermines the Constitution, and the second cannot be safely done with current AI systems.

“We will not knowingly provide a product that puts America’s warfighters and civilians at risk,” Amodei said in the statement.

Trump accused Anthropic of being selfish in its unwillingness to agree to terms.

By trying to force the War Department to comply with Anthropic’s terms, the company has endangered national security, the president said.

“We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again,” Trump wrote, adding that there will be a six-month phase-out period for agencies such as the War Department.

Amodei previously said in his statement that Anthropic’s technology is “extensively” deployed across multiple agencies of the federal government.

The company had also pledged to ensure a smooth transition to another provider to avoid disruption to any military operations in the event that the Trump administration chose to offboard Anthropic. Hegseth also affirmed that the company will assist in a seamless shift to a “more patriotic service.”

Trump said in his Feb. 27 announcement that Anthropic needs to comply or face civil and criminal consequences.

AI safety organizations called on Congress to step in to investigate Hegseth’s ultimatum given to Anthropic earlier this week, raising concerns about the potential violations of individual rights. The groups called for oversight on the War Department’s actions and for Hegseth to testify about how AI systems would be used.

“The American people have the right to know, through public forums, if their rights are in danger of being infringed upon,” said Brendan Steinhauser, CEO of The Alliance for Secure AI.

Democratic lawmakers are chiming in on the Pentagon–Anthropic dispute.

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) called Hegseth “a threat to our safety,” saying that he should be fired immediately.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said booting Anthropic from the federal government “makes us less safe.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called Hegseth’s ultimatum “disturbing to the core” and demanded that hearings be held.

Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.