The US Department of Defense (DoD) still considers Anthropic a supply chain risk despite statements to the contrary by senior figures in the Trump administration, according to a DoD technology official.
Emil Michael, the former Uber chief business officer who has served as under secretary of defense for research and engineering since May, posted a seemingly unprompted statement on X yesterday claiming that the US department of war has not changed its stance on the AI company.
“Anthropic is still a designated Supply Chain Risk at @DeptofWar and for the Defense Industrial Base. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Michael posted.
Michael’s remarks came just one day after US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick told Axios that Anthropic is “back on the right side” with the Trump administration, having acceded to key US security demands.
NTN approached the Pentagon Press Operations Duty Office for confirmation of the department’s official stance on the matter and clarification regarding both Michael and Lutnick’s comments but did not immediately receive a reply.
The contradictory messaging follows months of US government pressure on Anthropic. In February, the DoD designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk after the firm refused to strip safety restrictions from Claude that would allow the models to be used for surveillance or autonomous weapons.
The designation prevented military and government workers from accessing Anthropic’s models for their work, and was ruled “arbitrary and capricious” by district court judge Rita Lin. In August, Lin ruled the decision was unlawful, stating that the supply chain risk designation is “not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics”.
In June, the US government also ordered Anthropic to restrict foreign access to its advanced models, Mythos and Fable, prompting the firm to pull access to the models for all users. Anthropic has since said it has addressed security concerns outlined by the Trump administration.
