Pete Hegseth
Defense Secretary who designated Anthropic a "supply chain risk to national security" — the first time this classification was ever applied to an American company — after the company refused to lift AI safety guardrails.
Pete Hegseth was confirmed as Secretary of Defense in 2025. A former Fox News host and Army veteran, Hegseth brought an aggressive posture to Pentagon technology procurement.
Position on AI
Hegseth publicly promised the Pentagon wouldn’t “employ AI models that won’t allow you to fight wars.” Under his leadership, the Pentagon signed contracts worth up to $200 million each with four AI companies and demanded they all lift consumer-facing safety guardrails for military use.
Escalation and Follow-Through
By mid-February 2026, Hegseth was described as “close” to cutting business ties with Anthropic entirely. After a final meeting with Amodei on February 24 failed to resolve the dispute, Hegseth set a 5:01 PM deadline for February 27.
When the deadline passed without Anthropic’s compliance, Hegseth formally designated Anthropic a “supply chain risk to national security” — the first time this classification was ever applied to an American company. The designation forced every defense contractor to certify they don’t use Anthropic technology.
Hours later, Hegseth’s Pentagon struck a deal with OpenAI to replace Anthropic on classified military networks, completing the most dramatic government action against a domestic technology company in recent history.