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The Defense Department’s reliance on Anthropic’s AI came as a shocking realization that ultimately led to their dramatic schism, according to a top Pentagon official.
Emil Michael, the department’s under secretary for research and engineering as well as its chief technology officer, detailed the events leading up to the public feud in a Friday episode of the All-In podcast.
After the U.S. military’s raid on Venezuela in early January that captured dictator Nicolas Maduro, Anthropic asked Palantir if its AI was used in the operation. While Anthropic has characterized the inquiry as routine, the Pentagon and Palantir interpreted it as a potential threat to their access.
“I’m like, holy shit, what if this software went down, some guardrail picked up, some refusal happened for the next fight like this one and we left our people at risk?” Michael recalled. “So I went to Secretary Hegseth, I said this would happen and that was like a whoa moment for the whole leadership at the Pentagon that we’re potentially so dependent on a software provider without another alternative.”
Until recently, Anthropic’s Claude was the only AI model authorized in classified settings. The San Francisco-based startup has said it’s Read Entire Article
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