US Treasury says stopping use of Anthropic’s tech

The US Treasury Department said Monday it is ending use of all Anthropic products, following US President Donald Trump’s government-wide ban on the AI start-up after it rejected the Pentagon’s demands.

The US Treasury “is terminating all use of Anthropic products, including the use of its Claude platform, within our department,” said Secretary Scott Bessent in a social media statement.

The decision comes at the direction of Trump, he added.

“Under President Trump no private company will ever dictate the terms of our national security,” Bessent said on X.

Anthropic had previously turned down the Pentagon’s demand that it agree to unconditional military use of its Claude models.

It has since vowed to sue over “intimidation” and insists that its technology should not be used for the mass surveillance of US citizens or deployed in fully autonomous weapons systems.

The situation has become a rare public dispute between a major tech firm and the US government.

But the Pentagon argues that it operates within the law, adding that contracted suppliers cannot set the terms on how their products are employed.

On Friday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he was “directing every federal agency” in the US government to “immediately cease” all use of Anthropic’s tech.

“Anthropic better get their act together, and be helpful during this phase out period, or I will use the Full Power of the Presidency to make them comply, with major civil and criminal consequences to follow,” Trump said.

Hours later, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced a deal with the Pentagon to use its models with similar red lines to Anthropic, using “technical safeguards” that the Department of Defense had agreed to.