TRUMP BANNED CLAUDE

An AI company just told the Pentagon "no."

The President of the United States responded by banning them from the entire federal government.

This is the biggest AI story of the year. Maybe the decade. And it happened today.

Here's the short version:

Anthropic, the company behind Claude and widely considered the most safety-focused AI lab in the world, had a $200 million contract with the Pentagon. Their AI was the first and only model running on the military's classified networks.

The Pentagon wanted Anthropic to remove all restrictions on how Claude could be used. Anthropic said they'd agree to almost anything, but drew two red lines:

1. Don't use Claude for mass surveillance of Americans

2. Don't use Claude in autonomous weapons that kill without human oversight

The Pentagon said no deal. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave Anthropic until 5:01 PM today to comply or face consequences.

Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei responded: "We cannot in good conscience accede to their request."

Then Trump posted on Truth Social, ordering every federal agency to immediately stop using Anthropic. Not just the military. Every agency. Six-month phase-out.

He called them "Leftwing nut jobs" trying to "STRONG-ARM the Department of War."

Why does this matter?

This isn't just about one company or one contract. This is about who controls AI. The companies that build it, or the governments that want to use it.

Anthropic argued that today's AI simply isn't reliable enough for autonomous kill decisions. It hallucinates. It makes mistakes. And once you put it in a weapons system with no human in the loop, there's no taking that back.

The Pentagon argued that no private company should dictate how the military operates.

The wildest part? Sam Altman, Dario Amodei's biggest rival, publicly backed Anthropic. OpenAI and Google employees signed an open letter called "We Will Not Be Divided." Even a retired Air Force General who ran the Pentagon's first AI program said Anthropic's position was reasonable.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk posted "Anthropic hates Western Civilization."

His company xAI just got approved for the same classified networks Anthropic is being kicked off of.

This story is far from over. What happens next will set the rules for AI and military power for years to come.

I'll keep you posted.

your truly,

Wes "sleep with one eye open" Roth

PS check out my video on coverage of this