The Department of War gave Anthropic until 5:01pm on Friday the 27th to either give the Pentagon ‘unfettered access’ to Claude for ‘all lawful uses,’ or else. With the ‘or else’ being not the sensible ‘okay we will cancel the contract then’ but also expanding to either being designated a supply chain risk or having the government invoke the Defense Production Act.

It is perfectly legitimate for the Department of War to decide that it does not wish to continue on Anthropic's terms, and that it will terminate the contract. There is no reason things need be taken further than that.

Undersecretary of State Jeremy Lewin: This isn’t about Anthropic or the specific conditions at issue. It's about the broader premise that technology deeply embedded in our military must be under the exclusive control of our duly elected/appointed leaders. No private company can dictate normative terms of use—which can change and are subject to interpretation—for our most sensitive national security systems. The @DeptofWar obviously can’t trust a system a private company can switch off at any moment.

Timothy B. Lee: OK, so don’t renew their contract. Why are you threatening to go nuclear by declaring them [...]

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Outline:

(08:00) Good News: We Can Keep Talking

(10:31) Once Again No You Do Not Need To Call Dario For Permission

(15:22) The Pentagon Reiterates Its Demands And Threats

(16:48) The Pentagons Dual Threats Are Contradictory and Incoherent

(18:27) The Pentagons Position Has Unfortunate Implications

(20:25) OpenAI Stands With Anthropic

(22:48) xAI Stands On Unreliable Ground

(25:25) Replacing Anthropic Would At Least Take Months

(26:02) We Will Not Be Divided

“Anthropic and the DoW: Anthropic Responds” by Zvi