Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has summoned Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to the Pentagon on Tuesday morning for a discussion regarding the military applications of Claude, as reported by Axios. This meeting follows the Pentagon’s threat to classify Anthropic as a “supply chain risk”—a designation usually applied to foreign adversaries—after the AI company declined to permit the Department of Defense to utilize its technology for widespread surveillance of American citizens or for creating weapons that operate autonomously.

Last summer, Anthropic entered into a $200 million contract with the DOD, and Claude was reportedly employed during the special operations raid on January 3 that led to the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. That incident publicly highlighted the growing friction between the two parties.

According to a source, Hegseth is presenting Amodei with an ultimatum: cooperate or face exclusion. Whether this is a bluff remains uncertain, as finding a replacement for Anthropic would be a substantial challenge. However, the consequences are serious: a supply chain risk label would nullify Anthropic’s existing contract and compel other Pentagon collaborators to completely cease using Claude.