Underneath all of this is another question: Should tech companies ban things that are legal but are morally objectionable? The government certainly saw Anthropic’s willingness to play that role Unacceptable. On Friday evening, eight hours before the U.S. launched strikes on Tehran, Defense Secretary Pat Hegseth issued scathing remarks on X. “Anthropic delivered a master class in arrogance and deception,” he wrote, and echoed President Trump’s order for the government to stop working with the AI ​​company after Anthropic tried to stop its model cloud from using household appliances. “The War Department should have full, unrestricted access to Anthropics’ models for every legal purpose,” Hegseth wrote.
But until OpenAI’s full deal reveals more, it’s hard not to see the company sitting on the theoretical side, promising that it will does It’s to take advantage of what the Pentagon can do with its tech while deferring to the law to proudly use it as the right thing to do.
Here are three things to look for. One is whether the position will be good enough for OpenAI’s most important employees. With AI companies spending so much on talent, it’s possible that some at OpenAI see an unforgivable compromise in Altman’s justification.
Second, there is the scorched earth campaign that Hegseth promises to wage against the anthropic. Going beyond canceling the government’s contract with the company, he announced that it would be classified as a supply chain risk, and that “no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic.” There is significant debate over whether this is a death blow. Legally possibleand is Anthropic said If the threat is followed through, it will sue. OpenAI has also emerged. against Action
Finally, how will the Pentagon replace the cloud—the only AI model it actively uses in classified operations? including Some in Venezuela – while it grows Attacks against Iran? Hegseth gave the agency six months to do so, during which the military would phase in OpenAI’s models as well as Elon Musk’s. xAI.
But allegedly Claude was. is used In attacks on Iran hours after the sanctions were issued, it was suggested that the phasing out would be anything but easy. Even if the months-long feud between Anthropic and the Pentagon is over (which I doubt it is), we’re now seeing the Pentagon’s A.I. Acceleration plan Pressure companies to abandon the lines in the sand they once drew, with new tensions in the Middle East as the primary testing ground.
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