The Pentagon's decision to halt its relationship with artificial intelligence company Anthropic stemmed from contract limitations that prevented the use of AI for critical defense functions, according to Emil Michael, the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering and Department of War Chief Technology Officer.
In an interview with the Ruthless Podcast, Michael stated that upon reviewing Anthropic's contract after assuming responsibility for the AI portfolio, he discovered clauses prohibiting the use of AI for battlefield management. "You can't use AI to defend yourself from a missile attack. What?" Michael recounted.
This past spring, the Pentagon paused its engagement with Anthropic, a company known for its Claude product, while simultaneously initiating new contracts with competitors including SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, NVIDIA, Reflection, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services.
Michael attributed the problematic contract to the Biden administration, suggesting a lack of thorough review. "Maybe someone didn't read it," he commented, referencing his previous role as Chief Business Officer at Uber.
According to Michael, the White House's compute regulations had previously designated Anthropic as a favored AI partner. He described a meeting with Anthropic representatives where he sought to revise the agreement to allow for AI use in "all lawful purposes." Michael explained, "it's artificial general intelligence. You don’t get to tell me where I could fly a plane to. We decide when we buy a plane from Boeing or Lockheed."
However, Anthropic representatives reportedly asserted their own "moral values" and a "constitution" guiding their AI development, which clashed with the Pentagon's operational requirements. This approach, characterized by some as stemming from effective altruism principles prevalent in Silicon Valley, was seen as a barrier to necessary defense applications.
Michael indicated that the shift in approach, bringing in a wider range of tech partners, has already yielded positive results for the Pentagon's capabilities, though specific operations were not detailed. Anthropic has publicly contested the Department of War's authorization policy and is pursuing legal action regarding the contract dispute.