Major US defense firms, including Lockheed Martin, are expected to remove Anthropic's AI tools from their supply chains following President Donald Trump's ban on federal use of the company's Claude system, according to Reuters.
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The administration last week ordered a six-month phase-out of Anthropic's technology across federal agencies. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth went further, stating that contractors, suppliers or partners doing business with the US military could not engage in commercial activity with Anthropic, citing national security concerns.
Legal experts have questioned whether the Pentagon has the authority to impose such a sweeping restriction on private contractors, suggesting the move could face court challenges. Anthropic has said it will contest the ban, arguing that the Defense Department lacks statutory authority to bar contractors from using its tools outside government work.
Despite the uncertain legal footing, government contracting attorneys say firms dependent on Pentagon contracts are likely to comply swiftly to avoid jeopardizing access to the federal government's trillion-dollar annual budget. Lockheed Martin said it would follow presidential and Defense Department directives and expects minimal operational impact, noting it does not rely on any single AI vendor...