The Department of War is looking to enhance its ability to target its enemies using artificial intelligence, or “killer AI”. But it’s clashing with Anthropic over safeguards that the ruling class does not want.
Head of the Department of War, Pete Hegseth, a Christian Nationalist, vowed not to use artificial intelligence models that “won’t allow you to fight wars.”
The new age of warfare is approaching quickly, and it doesn’t look like the ruling class is interested in reigning in its terror.
Sources familiar with this dispute between the Department of War and Anthropic say the battle is over safeguards that would allegedly prevent the government from deploying its technology to target weapons autonomously and conduct United States domestic surveillance.
According to a Reuters report, the discussions between Anthropic and the ruling class represent an early test case of whether Silicon Valley, in Washington’s good graces after years of tensions, can influence how U.S. military and intelligence personnel deploy increasingly powerful AI on the battlefield.
In an essay on his personal blog, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned this week that AI should support national defense “in all ways except those which would make us more like our autocratic adversaries.”
Amodei has also been critical of ICE’s (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) extrajudicial killings. Amodei had said that the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens protesting immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis were a “horror” in a post on X.
An Anthropic spokesperson said the company’s AI is “extensively used for national security missions by the U.S. government” and that it remains in “productive discussions with the Department of War about ways to continue that work.” The Pentagon has yet to comment on the reported rift.
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Anthropic is one of a few major AI developers that were awarded contracts by the Pentagon last year. Others were Alphabet’s Google, Elon Musk’s xAI, and OpenAI.