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The Conversation
The Conversation
Elke Schwarz, Professor of Political Theory, Queen Mary University of London

Anthropic v the US military: what this public feud says about the use of AI in warfare

Anthropic the US United States Department of War Pete Hegseth Department of Defense United Nations DoD Nicolás Maduro Palantir

The very public feud between the US Department of Defense (also known these days as the Department of War) and its AI technology supplier Anthropic is unusual for pitting state might against corporate power. In the military space, at least, these are usually cosy bedfellows.

The origin of this disagreement dates back months, amid repeated criticisms from Donald Trump’s AI and crypto “czar”, David Sacks, about the company’s supposedly woke policy stances.

But tensions ramped up following media reports that Anthropic technology had been used in the violent abduction of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro by the US military in January 2026. It was alleged this caused discontent inside the San Francisco-based company.

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