For more than two decades, Emil Michael has operated at the fault line between Silicon Valley ambition and American geopolitical power, helping scale one of tech’s most disruptive companies before returning to government to shape how artificial intelligence will be used in war. Self-proclaimed “one of the best deal guys” Michael has now become the Pentagon’s most aggressive public combatant in its escalating standoff with Anthropic.
On Friday, the conflict seemed to escalate to a boiling point with Trump posting to Truth Social: “I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again!” The post went on to describe a six-month phaseout period and unspecified threats to Anthropic should it not cooperate.
